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ROOSEVELT’S 

Thrilling Experiences 

IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA 

HUNTING BIG GAME 


Exciting Adventures hunting the wild and ferocious beasts 
of the Jungle and Plain and mingling with the Savage People, 
studying their strange customs, their awful superstitions and 
weird beliefs, their curious marriage ceremonies and barbarous 
treatment of young girls and women 

Together with graphic descriptions of the mighty rivers, 
wonderful cataracts, inland seas, vast lakes, great forests, and 
the diamond mines of untold wealth .... 

vast Treasury of all that is wonderful, marvelous, interest¬ 
ing and instructive in the Dark Continent .... 
^ Including the Story-Life of Roosevelt, with his boyhood ad¬ 
ventures and strenuous career on a Western Ranch 

■ " 1 ■ 1 " ~ ■" : ■■■■ 

r * * 

-by- 

MARSHALL EVERETT, 

The Great Descriptive Writer and Traveler 

^ Illustrated with a large number of Exciting Hunting Scenes 
and Photographs of the Strange Natives of Darkest Africa 













Copyright, 1909 

BY 

J T. Moss. 



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ROOSEVELT IN A SMALL BOAT WITH TWO AFRICAN NATIVES ATTACKS A PARTY OF TWELVE HIPPOPOTAMI 

AND KILLS THREE BULLS. 









THE HERO OF SAN JUAN HILL. 

When the news of Dewey’s victory reached America, Mr. Roosevelt resigned his position 
as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. “There is nothing more for me to do here,” he 
said, “I have to get into the fight myself.” 










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MR. ROOSEVELT AS A COWBOY. 

In the Colonel’s work, “Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail,” the author 
pays the following tribute to the rough rider of the plains: “Brave, hospitable, 
hardy and adventurous, he is the grim pioneer of our land.” 






COLONEL ROOSEVELT RIDING ACROSS COUNTRY. 

Mr. Roosevelt is an enthusiastic horseman. He is never so happy as when, astride his favorite animal, he sets 
off for a long ride. He is absolutely fearless in the saddle and does not hesitate to take the highest of rail fences. 














Copyright 1909, bv Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

THE HAPPY ANTICIPATION OF A FINE FEAST. 

They w T ill chew him up wdth their sharp teeth like the Hyenas down to the marrow 
of the bones. Such a huge water-buck not often falls prey to their gluttonous stomachs. 
When it comes to Lion hunting they all prefer staying in Camp. “Shimba” (The Lion) 
drives the fear of death into their hearts, especially if a Lion breaks the silence of the 
African night by his dreadful roaring. 






The ex-President has six children, Theodore, Jr., born September 13, 1887; Kermit, born October 10, 1889; Ethel 
Carow, born August 10, 1891; Archibald Bulloch, born April 9, 1894; Quentin, born November 19, 1897. Alice, who 
occupies the center of the above group, is the daughter of his first wife. 



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A FINE EAST AFRICAN RHINOCEROS JUST KILLED BY THE HUNTERS. 








A WEIRD DANCE BY AFRICAN NATIVES. 

On festive occasions this dance is given. The headdress is made of grass fiber, the 
necklaces are of dogs and other animal teeth, while the anklets are of feathers. The central 
figure wears an enormous headdress of Bird-of-Paradise plumes surmounted by a gigantic 
aigrette of parrots’ feathers. The dancers wear great bunches of grass behind and carry 
light wands purely for decorative effect. During these dances old tribal jealousies arise and 
a man finds opportunity to spear his adversary. 







WITH THE FLASHLIGHT CAMERA IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. 

Zebras photographed by flashlight while drinking at night. The zebra advance very 
cautiously to a drinking place, but the herd feels quite safe under the guidance of a 
cautious and watchful male leader. Colonel Roosevelt and Kermit secured some perfect 
specimens of this animal. 



NO RACE SUICIDE IN THIS DISTRICT. 

Photograph of a South African warrior, his wives and family. Motherhood is regarded 
by these savage women as the greatest blessing that can come to them. 







PREPARING YOUNG AFRICAN GIRLS FOR THE MARRIAGE MARKET. 








» 





FALLEN LION IN AN AFRICAN FOREST. A BULL HIPPOPOTAMUS IN AN AFRICAN STREAM. 




PUBLISHER’S PREFACE 


T HE publishers of this work deem it fit to impress upon our readers 
that we have left nothing undone to make it in every respect 
worthy of its interesting subject and the august personality 
who plays such an important part in it. The fact that Theodore Roose¬ 
velt is the hero of our book is alone enough to secure it an introduction 
and hearty welcome in every American home. Add to this the unusual 
environments in which he is placed, the thrilling incidents and narrow 
escapes he passes through, the tropical natural scenery in which he 
dwells, the many unknown and strange quadrupeds, bipeds and quadru- 
mana he meets, the fabulous wealth of the African fauna and flora, 
which baffles his eyes, and you will see enacted before your wondering 
and admiring eyes a drama so unique, so exceptional and so extraordin¬ 
ary as to surpass anything you have either seen or heard of before. 

And, further, consider that this strange and fascinating world is 
described to you in the most picturesque and vivid language, by an 
author who is thoroughly familiar with his subject, who has spent years 
of his life in travels in all parts of the world, and with his own eyes seen 
many of the localities he depicts—if we did not know that we could offer 
ithe American public a work that in its kind has never yet been sur¬ 
passed, yea, not even equalled, we would not care to send it out with 
the imprint of our well-known firm. The text is embellished by hun¬ 
dreds of explanatory illustrations, many of them exact representations 
of photographs or drawings of prominent artists and professional stu¬ 
dents of nature, and also by maps of some of the localities made world- 
famous by Roosevelt’s exploits. 

We need not call the attention of parents, teachers and friends of 
the young to the high educational value of a work like this. It will 
place in the hands of our boys and young men a more welcome and 
needed substitute for the many novels and other story books of a 

33 


t 



34 


PUBLISHER’S PREFACE. 


doubtful nature, of which the bookmarket now abounds. It will divert 
the minds and thoughts of the young to nature, the source of health and 
happiness, prevent a morbid longing for and brooding on the dark deeds 
of the slippery dime-novel heroes, and steel the mind for noble and 
manly feats. ' Our ex-President, who in so many other respects, has 
broken new soil and opened new roads for our ambitious youth has 
also through the achievements related in this fascinating work proven 
himse]f a standardbearer of healthy and invigorating ideas, and a 
wayshower to hitherto untried fields of activity. 

But our book will not only serve as an entertainment on leisure hours 
or an instruction for the young. It also will afford an interesting, use¬ 
ful and profitable reading for the full-grown man or woman, who is 
seeking a refuge from overwork and business cares. Might it not even 
be possible, Mr. Businessman, that you will discover in these fascinat¬ 
ing pages new fields for your enterprising mind, new fields for Amer¬ 
ican trade and industry? The old world is soon covered by competing 
concerns—China and Japan will before long be able to supply their own 
demand and will become less and less dependent on America and 
Europe. But Africa’s virgin soil and barbarian population will 
for decades and perhaps centuries to come be in need of our products 
and our commerce. This continent, therefore, deserves our more serious 
attention—it will no doubt become a source of untold wealth to those 
who understand to avail themselves of its resources and to supply its 
demands. From this point of view this irksome work will deserve the 
attention of the businessman no less than the educator. 

We feel confident that no one can read this book without feeling that 
he has spent his time most agreeably and profitably. 

We extend a hearty greeting to all our readers, young or old, and 
hope that they will join with us in a sincere wish that our work may find a 
way to every home in our country, where Theodore Boosevelt’s name 
is known and respected and where the flame of love for useful knowledge 
burns high on the family hearth. The Publishers. 


AUTHOR’S PREFACE 


W HEN Theodore Roosevelt after having swung the big stick 
over the heads of the evil-doers and dealt out a square deal to 
everybody for the space of seven years, covered with glory 
and beloved as no other President had ever been, retired to private life, 
he did not go to enjoy a well-needed rest in some of the paradises of 
France or Italy or idle away his leisure hours among the crowned heads 
of the old world—No, his active and restless spirit was clamoring for a 
still more strenuous life than before. 

From early youth Roosevelt had been deeply interested in hunting, 
natural history and scientific pursuits. This domineering trait in his 
character came to prominence already during his college years at 
Harvard. His early youth, therefore, was divided between bookstudies, 
athletic sports and hunting expeditions. And were it not for his strong 
sense of duty to his country and his public-spirited nature it is very 
likely that he never would have accepted the public offices, which un¬ 
sought came to him. It therefore was in perfect accord with his previous 
history when the papers announced that he was going straight from 
Washington and his beloved Oyster Bay as the head of an expedition 
undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution, to explore the wilderness of 
the Dark Continent and enrich our country with new and valuable spec¬ 
imens of the anhnal world of this wonderful region. 

This was the original and unexpected answer Roosevelt gave to the 
many questions as to what he would do when his term of office had ex¬ 
pired. It cannot be said that his enterprise was paved with unanimous 
approval. Thousands had expected him to spend his time at home and 
after a few weeks rest again enter the political arena, and voices of 
warning were heard from near and far. A journey in Africa is some¬ 
thing very different from a pleasure trip through Europe or America. 
Instead of gliding smoothly along in a luxurious parlor car, stopping 

35 



36 


AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 


now and then in large and heartily welcoming cities to listen to flattering 
eulogies from governors and captains of industry and commerce, the 
African traveller has to traverse the almost impenetrable jungles and 
marshes and endless forests of a wild and inhospitable country, where 
every step might bring disaster, sickness or even death either from 
disease or beast or the poisoned arrow from some treacherous savage’s 
bow. 

But Roosevelt is not a man to balk in the face of difficulties. His 
iron will never faltered. Declining the flattering invitations that passed 
over him from all the courts of Europe he boarded the same magnificent 
steamer of the Hamburg American Line, which once had carried the 
Kaiser around the Mediterranean, and only 19 days after the expiration 
of his office term started his now so famous voyage to the land, in whose 
primeval forests he would have for his daily music the lion’s roar, the 
leopard’s grunting, the elephant’s shrill trumpet-blasts, the boa-con¬ 
strictor’s hissing or the concert of feathered tribes, to which our orches¬ 
tras seem tame and commonplace. 

This book gives you a vivid and lifelike desorption of what Roose¬ 
velt saw and experienced on this daring journey and tells about his 
unexampled encounters with the kings of the forest, the majectic lion, 
it lets all the wonders of the animal and vegetable world of the tropics 
pass before your eyes. It describes the habits, customs and appear¬ 
ance of unknown beasts, of graceful fishes, varicolored birds and bril¬ 
liant insects. And last but not least it introduces you to the primitive in¬ 
habitants of this mysterious continent, the brown and black savages, to 
whom civilization is a question mark and culture is as little known as 
snow in August. It makes you acquainted with the strange habits, super¬ 
stitious rites and religious ceremonies of these darkhued cousins of the 
apes and the monkeys, whose only right to bear the human name seems 
to be their poor and infantile jabbering. 

Nothing can indeed be more interesting and fascinating than to 
read about these strange human beings, their ways, their daily life, 
their marriage customs, and their adventurous existence. This book 
' tells you all about it and it places it all before your wondering eyes 
not only in words but also in pictures drawn from life by some of the 
world’s greatest masters. The Author. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Publisher’s Preface . 33 

Author’s Preface . 35 


CHAPTER I. 

OBJECT OF ROOSEVELT’S AFRICAN EXPEDITION. 

Roosevelt’s Exciting Encounter with a Lion—A Frightful Specta.de—How the Lion is 
Traced and Finally Brought at Bay—Roosevelt’s Narrow Escape from the Lion’s 
Teeth—His Marvelous Presence of Mind Saves Him. 41 

CHAPTER II. 

FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 

Old and New Mombasa—Its Romantic History—Enthusiastic Reception to Roosevelt— 
Tropical Scenery—The Desert and the Jungle—The Railroad from Mombasa to 
Nairobi, the Chicago of East Africa. 57 

CHAPTER III. 

LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 

His Ancestors and Boyhood Days—College Studies—His Brilliant Political Career—On a 

Western Ranch—The Rough Rider—Stories and Anecdotes. 71 


CHAPTER IV. 

STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 

How He Looked When a Boy—Was a Born Leader—The Old Dutch Reformed Church—How 

He Strengthened His Delicate Frame—First Love. 75 


CHAPTER V. 

BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 

The Lion and Other Beasts of Prey—The Elephant and Other Huge Thick-Skinned Animals 
—The Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus—The Royal Game—The Buffalo, the Giraffe, the 
Camel and the African Antelope—Monkeys, Crocodiles, Snakes, and Other Venomous 
Reptiles . 83 


CHAPTER VI. 

ROOSEVELT’S HUNTING GROUNDS. 

British East Africa—The Chicago of East Africa—Tropical Scenery—Primeval Forests, 
Rocky Mountains and Running Streams—Wonders of the Animal and Vegetable King¬ 
doms—Pheasants, Doves, Monkeys—Flowers in All the Colors of the Rainbow—Man’s 
Cruelty Marring the Beauty of Nature. 89 


37 











38 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VII. 

ROOSEVELT’S LIFE IN THE WEST. 

Exciting Adventures—A Mistaken Ruffian—A Western Episode—The Pleasures of the 
Chase—Shoots His First Buffalo—Kills Two Deer at Four Hundred Yards—An Ex¬ 
citing Elk Hunt—Hunting Dangerous Game—Stands Off a Band of Indians—Tribute 
to the Rough Riders. 95 


CHAPTER VIII. 

NATIVES OF AFRICA. 

What Specimens of Humanity Roosevelt Met in Africa—Black and White—Arabs, Negroes 

and Other Races—Hottentots and Bushmen—Speke’s and Burton’s Discoveries. 105 


CHAPTER IX. 

ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 

Organizing the Regiment—A Composite Lot—College Athletes and Cowboys—The Officers 
—Orders to March—The Landing of Daiquiri—The First Skirmish—Death of Sergeant 
Ffsh and Captain Capron—The La Quassina Fight—The Baptism of Fire—San Juan 
Hill—The Surrender of Santiago—The Celebrated “Round Robin”. 129 


CHAPTER X. 

A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 

Early Discoveries and Explorations—An Incredible Statement Proved True—Mohammedan 
Conquests—In the Congo Country—On the Eastern Coast—First English Expeditions— 
Ascent of the Senegal—French Explorations. 143 


CHAPTER XI. 

ROOSEVELT’S FIRST EXPERIENCE AS AN AFRICAN HUNTER. 

He Kills a Gnu or Wildebeeste—Despatches Three Lions in One Day—Kermit Makes an 
Expedition on His Own Hook—Smallpox Scare in the Camp—Other Thrilling In¬ 
cidents . 155 


CHAPTER XII. 

AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND PARTITION AMONG EUROPEAN 

NATIONS. 

Size of the Dark Continent—Natural Resources and Population—Climate and Geography 

—Rivers, Lakes and Mountains—Deserts and Vast Forests....:. 159 


CHAPTER XIII. 

ROOSEVELT’S REMARKABLE SKILL AS A HUNTER. 

Exciting Encounters with a Bull Rhinoceros—The First Elephant Falls for His Never Fail¬ 
ing Bullet—Giraffes, Leopards and Other Beasts Bagged—Cubs Captured Alive. 165 









TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


39 


CHAPTER XIV. 

ROOSEVELT’S VISITS TO CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 

Religions of Africa—Fetichism—Devil Worship—Portuguese and Protestant Missions— 
London Missionary Society—Livingstone—Dutch Reformed Church—American Mis¬ 
sions—Catholic Missions in Northern Africa—Persecutions—Martyrdoms—A Christian 
Ruler . 169 


CHAPTER XV. 

THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO AND THE SLAVE TRADE. 

How the Slave Trade Originated—Cruelty of the Slave Traders—Efforts to Suppress It— 
Liberia, the Afro-American Republic—Its People and Government—Sacrificing a Child 
—Roasting People Alive—Breaking the Bones of Victims—Adventures of the Cannibals 
—The Value of Female Slaves. 179 


CHAPTER XVI. 

LIVINGSTONE THE MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 

His Education and Early Ambitions—His Thirst for Knowledge—Studies Whole Morning 
in Factory—Intended to Go to China but was Providentially Directed to Africa—His 
Exciting Experiences—Thrilling Adventures and Epoch-Making Discoveries in the 
Dark Continent . 183 


CHAPTER XVII. 

LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY THROUGH AFRICA. 

The Expedition to the Zambesi River—Livingstone and His Makololo—The Elephant 
Marshes—To the Great Lake—Hippopotamus Trap—The Great Unwashed—Lake 
Nyassa—Ascent of Zambesi—Insolent Ferrymen—The Victoria Falls—“The White 
Man Must be Saved”—Freeing Slaves—Heart-Rending Stories—Slave Hunters’ Es¬ 
cape— A Desolated Country—Robbed—Arrival of Slaves. 195 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 

Attendants and Arrivals—Misfortunes—The Open Sore of the World—Loss of Medicines— 
Illness—A Marriage—An Earthquake—Serious Illness—Theft of Goods—“Sorest Delay 
I Ever Had”—Broken Hearts—A Journey Through Dangers—Death Threatened Thrice 
in One Day—Destitute—The Darkest Hour—The Dawn—The Stars and Stripes at 
XJjiji—Henry M. Stanley—Hardships—His Last Prayer—His Death Discovered. 229 


CHAPTER XIX. 

STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 

Birth and Youth of Stanley—To America—In the Confederate Army—In the U. S. Navy— 
Adventures in Turkey—In Abyssinia—In Spain—“Find Livingstone”—Off to Zanzibar 
—Shooting Hippopotami—News of Livingstone—An Insolent Fellow—Attempt to 
Assassinate Stanley— Fever—War—Mirambo and His Misdeeds. 261 








40 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XX. 

HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 

A Mutiny—Stanley’s Life Again Attempted—Attack of a Leopard—Lions Near the Camp 
— “A White Man at Ujiji”—Silencing a Woman—Tanganyika—“Dr. Livingstone, I 
Presume”—Under the Palms of Ujiji—A Lion in the Grass—Parting from Livingstone 
—“Drop that Box and I Will Shoot You”—Going Home. 285 

CHAPTER XXI. 

STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH ACROSS THE DARK CONTINENT. 

Stanley Explores Same Ground as Roosevelt—Preparations for the Journey—Departure— 
Interviewed by Lions—A Three Days Fight—Crocodiles and Hippopotami—Sickness 
and Death in the Camp—A Murderous Outbreak—A Fight and a Fine—Uganda and 
Its People—Panic in the Camp—The Terror of Africa—In Dwarf Land—Cataracts and 
Cannibals—The Congo—Struggling On—Victoria and Albert Nyanza. 299 

CHAPTER XXII. 

WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 

The Sources of the Nile Still Undiscovered—Immense Mountain Ranges—Endless Primeval 
Forests—A Grand Spectacle—Great Variety of Tropical Trees—Beautiful Lakes and 
Fascinating Landscapes—Africa Still the Field for Ambitious Discoverers—Early Ex¬ 
plorations .- 367 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE MONKEY, AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMAL—DU CHAILLU IN THE 

GORILLA COUNTRY. 

The Gorilla and the Chimpanzee in Their Native Haunts—The Story of the Monkey— 
“Civilized” Simians—A Tragical Gorilla Hunt—Professor Garner Learns the Monkey 
Language—Habits of African Monkeys—Their Docility—Du Chaillu’s Celebrated 
Gorilla Hunting—“Jimmy” and “Billy” Behave Very Much Like Human Brothers— 
The Orang-Outang 


418 






1 


CHAPTER I. 

OBJECT OF ROOSEVELT'S AFRICAN EXPEDITION. 

Roosevelt’s Exciting Encounter with a Lion—A Frightful Spectacle—How the Lion is Traced 
and Finally Brought at Bay—Roosevelt’s Narrow Escape from the Lion’s Teeth—His 
Marvelous Presence of Mind Saves Him. 

R OOSEVELT had not been many days on African soil when he had 
a chance to show his record-breaking skill as a crackshot in the 
encounter with a lion. 

The lion hunt is one of the most exciting and perilous events in an 
African explorer’s experience. The king of the forests had to be found 
in his jungle bed and driven by mounted natives through grass, under¬ 
bush and morasses until he was brought at bay. Woe to the man who 
misses the target or loses his presence of mind when the lion, swifter 
than a galloping race-horse, darts at him in blind fury. 

Three lions had been discovered attacking a buffalo on the open 
prairie at the edge of a jungle. Two of Roosevelt’s companions were 
trying to drive the beasts in the direction of the other members of the 
party. Two of the lions, frightened by the sudden attack and instinct¬ 
ively trying to save themselves, bounded off and hid in the high grass, 
but the third and largest one with a terrific roar, that shook the ground 
almost like an earthquake, made for the terrified men with a leap 
through the air swift as lightning, and in one instant they would have 
been between his jaws—when “Crack!” echoed a rifle over the vast 
plains and down to earth tumbled Roosevelt’s first big African game— 
and the lives of the men were saved. 

The same day another lion was found. One of the frightened bearers 
fired at the beast but missed. The infuriated animal crouching for a 
last leap, which would have in a moment sent the bearer into eternity, 
charged at him with lightning speed, and the horrified man made a 
wild dash to get under Roosevelt’s protection. The Ex-President was 

41 


42 


OBJECT OB ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION , 


on a run, however, and approaching the lion on the right side, where 
his heart could not be reached. What was to be done? There was no 
time for long deliberation. A second more and the man would have been 



killed. ith the same coldblooded presence of mind and Quick decision, 
which always had characterized him, whether commanding the Ameri¬ 
can Rough Riders against the Spanish fusillades or swinging the famous 
Big Stick over the shivering heads of the Trusts or the leaders of des¬ 
potic labor unions he threw his rifle to his shoulder and, aiming at the 
only unprotected vulnerable spot, the spine, split it with one ball. 













































































OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION, 


43 


The man’s life was saved, and Roosevelt had in less than one day 
won from the natives the proud title of The Lion Slayer. 

Let us now go back to the historical events, which led up to the above 
described interesting incidents. 



PRIMITIVE METHODS OP THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA, 


Why did Roosevelt go to Africa? Why did he not stay at home and 
take an active and influential part in our internal politics even after his 
official term as President of the greatest and most progressive nation on 
earth has expired? He no doubt could have followed the example of 
Prince Bismark who even after his retirement from public life for a 
number of years continued to be the most influential man in the German 
Empire. Roosevelt’s unequaled popularity certainly would have made 





















































44 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION . 


him an even greater power in American politics than any office-holder, 
no matter how high and exalted. 

But Roosevelt is not and never was neither an office seeker nor a 
popularity hunter. He is an independent man of principle, and from 
early youth he had been a lover of sports and nature. The cowboys in 
the Rocky Mountains and the ranchmen in the great American wilds 
can tell many a thrilling story of adventure about the young college- 
bred huntsman who could run down the grizzly and lasso the wild horse 



From tlie Minneapolis Journal. 

MOVING DAY AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 


with even more skill than they, who were born and bred among the mov¬ 
ing herds of the deserts. But he apparently had already exhausted the 
American supply of big game. Leaving the popular “Teddy-Bears” 
to the children as a remembrance of his youthful feats, where else 
could he go but to Africa, the only continent still remaining so to say 
in Nature’s hands; to Africa where still are found in their natural 
state the interesting specimens of the animal kingdom, which have not 
yet been exterminated by our advancing civilization; to Africa, which 
still teems with millions of savages, many of whom are not far above 
the wild beasts. And to Africa he went! 







































'/A 


AFRICAN LIONS HOWLING ON A MOONLIGHT NIGHT, 


45 


























































46 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELT’S EXPEDITION . 


FROM NEW YORK TO MOMBASA. 

Realizing the value of time Roosevelt left New York two weeks after 
President Taft’s inauguration, on March 23, 1909. His destination was 
British East Africa including a voyage on the great Victoria Nyanza 
and a journey down the valley of the Nile. Ostensibly he went for a 
fifteen months’ recreation trip, but the real object of his enterprize was 
not pleasure but rather scientific. For he was the head of an expedi¬ 
tion undertaken by the great Smithsonian Institution in active charge of 
N. J. Cunninghame of Nairobi, the headquarters of the Uganda Rail¬ 
road Co., one of the most expert of African hunters. Other members 
of the party were the famous sportsman and author F. C. Selous, and the 
Ex-President’s son, Kermit, a youth of twenty summers, who was the 
official photographer of the expedition. A number of newspaper re¬ 
porters from Europe and America swarmed around the former chief 
anxious to follow him on his adventurous trip but they were all refused 
the privilege and the bold warrior even threatened to drive them away 
by force if they should attempt to intrude upon his privacy. 

His departure from New York was one of the most memorable 
events in his triumphant career. Had he ever entertained any doubts 
as to his popularity with the American people, they were dispersed like 
dust before a cyclone when he saw tens of thousands of enthusiastic 
men and women from all parts of this vast country crowded along the 
pier anxious to get a glimpse of their former chief and beloved national 
hero. The crowd was so dense that the ex-President had to be escorted 
to the landing by mounted police. In fact, he was almost borne on the 
hands of the people to the waiting steamer. On board the great liner 
Hamburg, which was ready to take him to his point of destination, he 
was received and greeted by President Taft’s representative and mili¬ 
tary aide, Captain Archibold W. Butt, of the quartermaster’s depart¬ 
ment of the army, wishing the former chief executive “Good-bye and 
the best of health,” and presenting him with a gold seal inscribed with 
the name “Theodore Roosevelt,” as a symbol of the “Square Deal” 
he had meted out to everyone. Roosevelt returned his “best wishes 
to the President,” and then sent him the following brief but expres¬ 
sive telegram: “Parting thanks, love and sincere wishes.” Men 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION . 


47 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 

THE ROOSEVELT GUARD. 

prominent in politics, and influential in finance and business, office¬ 
holders and men in all walks of life, foreign and domestic diplomats, 
educators and public men were there to bid the most distinguished 
American citizen good-bye. Italian and German marine bands struck 











































48 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


up national airs and all were agreed that they had never witnessed 
anything to compare with this most hearty and brilliant farewell 
acclaim. 

The steamer Hamburg is one of the most luxuriously equipped and 
commodious steamers of the Hamburg-American line that cross the 
Atlantic. A suite of five elegantly furnished rooms—once occupied by 
the Kaiser on his Mediterranean tour—had been reserved for him. Here 
he met former Secretary of State, Senator Elihu Root, Senator Lodge, 
of Massachusetts, and Mrs. Admiral Cowles, of the navy, the ex-Presi- 
dent’s sister. 

Looking out of the door at the crowds gathered before it, he caught 
sight of his former private secretary, Mr. Loeb. Grasping him by the 
hand and giving him a pull which brought him past the two police- 
officers who were guarding the entrance, he cried:.“Come, Loeb, come 
here.” A newswriter was greeted with a friendly “Let the muck- 
raker in.” Still more cordial was the reception allowed some Rough 
Riders. “Let them pass,” he cried and saluted them with a hearty 
grasp of his hand. 

INCIDENTS DURING THE VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO NAPLES. 

The steamship company had made the most exquisite and elaborate 
provisions for the comfort of its distinguished passenger. The walls 
in his department were adorned with portraits of Mrs. Roosevelt, Presi¬ 
dent Taft and the Kaiser, picture of the ex-President’s home at Oyster 
Bay, scenery from Europe and Africa, and other pleasing decorations. 

When the steamer whistle sounded for all ashore and the majestic 
steamer slowly backed into the river, the immense crowds on the pier 
began to cheer, the whistles of every factory and steamer shrieked, the 
ladies waved their handkerchiefs—and the great chief was off under 
more boisterous demonstrations than New York had seen for years. 

The voyage was not characterized by any remarkable incidents. 
Like most crossings of the ocean, it was monotonous, every one having 
to follow the ship’s prescribed routine. It was probaKy to relieve the 
monotony of the reports that some news agents invented the unfounded 
story of that an attempt to assassinate the ex-President had been made 





■ I 





1 ,OL T 


4 J 







L 













w * 




Copyright 1909, bv Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

WARRIORS AND TRIBES IN THEIR WONDERFUL COSTUMES WAITING TO 

GREET COL. ROOSEVELT. 

The Women and Children are in front and the Warriors at the back. The headgear 
of the warriors is most elaborate, being made of wicker work and shells with enormous 
ostrich plumes, which, though barbaric, makes a fantastic picture. Note the tail piece 
which the women on the right of the picture have on; that is the symbol of marriage 
and it is practically all of the clothes most of the women wear. The women and children 
nearly all have sticks or gourds in their hands and the warriors their long spears. Col. 
Roosevelt was greatly pleased with the reception given him by these native savages. 











From Stereograph, Copyright 1909, by Underwood & Underwood. 

COL. ROOSEVELT’S GUARD OF HONOE. 

These Native Troops are drilled by European officers and are efficient and capable. 
They act as police in maintaining law and order throughout British East Africa. They 
met Col. Boosevelt on his arrival and escorted him to the Government House. 






OBJECT OF ROOSEVELT’S EXPEDITION. 


49 


REME 1BEP. 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 


GOODBYE, TEDDY ! TAKE GOOD CAGE OF YOUESELF. 


by a steerage passenger. When Roosevelt heard of this unnatural 
story, he expressed his regret that such a dastardly lie had been allowed 
to gain publicity, and to show his confidence in his poor fellow-passen¬ 
gers, he went down to the third-class passengers and shook hands with 




























































50 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


every one of them. In fact, Roosevelt was the most popular of all the 
passengers on the Hamburg and no one ever thought of doing him any 
harm. 

RECEPTION IN EUROPE. 

All Europe had been anxious to see and welcome our former Presi¬ 
dent. Invitations for him to visit all the capitals of the Old World had 
been sent out and rejected; but nothing could prevent the Europeans 
from manifesting their interest in this extraordinary man by extend¬ 
ing to him a most cordial and elaborate welcome upon his arrival at 
Naples. Thousands had gathered there from far and near to greet 
the former executive. The U. S. Ambassador, Griscom, had come down 
from Rome, and newspaper men from all the capitals of Europe had 
hurried to Naples to interview him and to cable their impressions to 
their respective countries. 

He left Naples late at night by the steamer Admiral which was go¬ 
ing to take him to the ruins of Messina and to Mombasa—gliding slowly 
along the beautiful Italian shore through the balmy breezes of southern 
Europe. He passed close to the Lipari Islands and the volcano Strom- 
boli whose cone rising more than 3,500 feet above the sea sent out a huge 
column of vapor that enwrapped the whole country in its cloudy veil. 
About noon they passed through the Strait of Messina, where the 
ancients believe that the two horrible sea monsters, Scylla and Cha- 
rybdis who according to the immortal Homer, caused the Trojan hero 
Ulysses so much trouble, had their abodes. It is not recorded, however, 
that our national hero had any difficulty in escaping these fabled mon¬ 
sters, and he arrived hale and hearty at Messina, so recently the theatre 
of one of the most terrible spectacles contemporary annals have 
registered. 

A SCENE OF DESOLATION. 

Approaching Messina and armed with a pair of marine glasses, 
Roosevelt saw at a distance the barren ruins of the wrecked city. Ob¬ 
serving them from a distance, he remarked: “There is more standing 
than I expected.” He was greeted by an immense crowd at the land¬ 
ing, and was saluted by the Re Umberto with the King of Italy on 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


51 


board. The King sent Captain Pfeister, the former Italian military 
attache at Vv r ashington and now adjutant to Admiral Mirabello, with 
his compliments and an invitation to his presence. Koosevelt with his 
son Kermit and Ambassador Griscom at once set out for the battleship 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 

WISHING BOOSEVELT A WARM RECEPTION IN AFRICA. 













































































OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


and were met by the King at the gangway and greeted by a most cordial 
handshake. The King was anxious to meet so distinguished a per¬ 
sonage and thank him for the assistance his country had extended to 
Italy in her affliction. Replying Roosevelt emphasized that the Ameri- 





































OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION . 


53 


can people did not want any thanks and had simply done its duty. The 
King wished him a successful hunting trip and expressed the hope 
that he would meet the Count of Turin who had just gone on an expedi¬ 
tion in Africa. Before they left a photograph was taken of a group 
consisting of Roosevelt and his party and the King. 

Immediately at the close of the reception, Roosevelt and his party 
went ashore to inspect the ruins of the once beautiful city. Signor 
Trincheri, the prefect of Messina, who under orders from Premier 
Gialitti, was their guide, took them into the interior of the gigantic heap 
of waste and rubbish, which a few weeks before had been Messina. The 
desolation was appalling. Ruins of palaces, blocks of stone and antique 
pillars caused them much trouble in making their way through the city 
and a heavy rain, which soon began to fall, increased their difficulties, 
the mud being almost knee-deep. The people emulated in showing him 
their appreciation and gratefulness. Many women kissed their hands 
to him, while the children threw roses in his path and the men cheered. 
This spontaneous expression of sympathy moved him to emotion, and 
turning to one of his party, he said: “I am glad and proud as an Ameri¬ 
can citizen that my country could do something to help this immense 
disaster, for which even all the assistance in the world would be 
insufficient.” 


FROM MESSINA TO MOMBASA. 

The three days voyage across the always storm tossed Mediter¬ 
ranean brought our ex-President in touch with passengers, most of 
whom were officials or residents of the Dark Continent. The majority 
of them were of mixed English, German and Portuguese descent, and 
the stories wherewith they regaled our ex-President were certainly not 
lacking in spiciness or dramatic flavor. 

An old fellow, whose respect for the truth certainly was not sur¬ 
passed by his hatred for the tame and commonplace, told of the dog¬ 
headed monkeys he had seen in Nairobi, who had heads and claws like 
dogs and barked like them. Another old hunter spoke about a people 
who are wondrous swift though they progress by hopping on one leg. 
At midday, he said, when unable to find a forest shade, they lie down 


54 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


upon the back and hold their foot aloft, which is so large that it serves 
the purpose of a shade umbrella in protecting their bodies from the 
sun. There were also, another of his fellow-passengers affirmed, a 
headless people, whose heads and mouths were situated on their breasts, 
but who had neither ears nor nose. 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 

HOORAH ! HE’S GONE! LET’S CELEBRATE. 


THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL. 

In Port Said, the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, Roosevelt 
first set foot on African soil.. While the steamer was coaling there, he 
had a good opportunity to observe the half naked, jabbering and per¬ 
spiring natives and to see their huts and primitive dwellings, as well 
as the public buildings, the canal offices and the modern hotels. Black 
and Nubians, Sudanese of every tribe and color, Arabs and Egyptians 
from the desert and mountainous regions of the Holy Land, all wearing 
their mani-colored Oriental apparel, were so blended in this meeting 
place of the East, the W T est and the Tropics as to make the whole one 
of the most varied and wild places ever witnessed by a stranger. In 
fine, everything in Port Said, whether white, black or yellow had 
























OBJECT OF ROOSEVELTS EXPEDITION. 


55 


gathered round the pier to get a glimpse of the most famous man in 
the world. 

The trip through the Suez Canal was no doubt Roosevelt’s most 
interesting experience so far. Standing on the bridge of the vessel 
during the entire trip he evinced most intense interest in that great 
waterway from end to end. It no doubt reminded him of the Panama 
Canal, which he had personally inspected, and one of the greatest enter¬ 
prises commenced during his administration. He scanned the channel 
minutely on either side and plied Ambassador Juserand with volleys 
of questions concerning the cost, construction, operation and profits, 
while the steamer slowly and solemnly glided through the narrow 
waterway between low and level shores stretching as far as the eye 
could reach over sandy wastes and barren plains to the distant horizon, 
where the towering pink and bluish mountain chains of the Holy Land 
like a ghostly vision on the eastern sky only added to the lonely desola¬ 
tion of the landscape. 

As the Admiral entered Bitter Dakes Roosevelt was greeted with 
hearty cheers from passengers on the Indian liner City of Paris. A 
huge Teddy Bear on the liner’s bridge amused him and he waved his 
sombrero in acknowledgment. The cheers were heartily participated 
in by the natives, some on camels, some on mules and some on sandaled 
feet who traveled with the steamer or were going northward. At short 
intervals little Arab settlements, rising like dust-covered spectres out 
of the sand on either side came to view and relieved the hopeless 
monotony of the desert. As the ship passed some of the neatly kept 
canal stations, which now and then reminded the traveler of a more 
advanced civilization than the surrounding country can boast, Kermit, 
Dr. Mearns and other hunters who disembarked at Ismalia returned to 
the ship here having bagged a few quail. 

The Suez Canal passes through the hottest places on earth, with 
not a bit of vegetation. There is practically no rainfall except once a 
year, and the water is collected in great dams in the rocky gorges back 
of the towns and supplied to the public in barrels, hauled by donkeys, 
camels and big Indian humped oxen, as well as carried in goat skins on 
the backs of men. Beyond Suez, the southern terminal point of the 


56 


OBJECT OF ROOSEVELT’S EXPEDITION . 


canal, the traveler is reminded of the passage of the Israelites through 
the Red Sea, while towards the east might be seen the shadowy peaks 
of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from 
the Lord’s hands under lightning and thunder. 

There is no relief from the scourging heat as the steamer gets into 
the lied Sea, along wdiose shores the sun of the tropics has dried up 
every blade of grass and where not even a lonely lion breaks the mute 
monotony of those fierce solitudes. 

As you approach Aden some barren, bleak and red islands rise and 
fade away, and other red peaks frown over the desert city as the ship 
anchors in the green water. The noisy throng of natives who swarm 
about the steamer in their little boats offering sandalwood, ivory, sea- 
shells, ostrich feathers and other queer products of Africa do not pre¬ 
vent you from enjoying the brilliant spectacle of the exquisite tropical 
sunrise that greets you. While the steamer is coaling you disembark 
and go to take in the city. You drive to Solomon’s Wells, said to have 
been built by this illustrious monarch. 

The Oriental features of Aden represent nothing attractive to an 
American. The dirt and filth can not but be disgusting to one who 
comes from a land, where ‘‘cleanliness is next to godliness,” and the 
lean and emaciated, long-limbed, black-skinned and woolly specimens 
of humanity who carry coal in baskets to the ship or throng the narrow 
lanes as you take a drive in one of the little, ramshackle phaetons, while 
the poor, unfed horses threaten to collapse before getting half the way, 
are not calculated to inspire you with any high ideas of Oriental civiliza¬ 
tion. 

Soaking in the hot sunshine in the square stands a beautiful marble 
statue of Queen Victoria looking down upon this varied scenery of 
poverty, brutality, and Oriental laziness, while ships from Australia, 
India and China are coaling in the harbor and a few English officials 
pass from building to building indifferent to both natives and strangers. 

In other parts of this mongrel city are seen black-curled Jewish 
merchants, turbaned Arabs or Hindus, tall and proud Persian princes 
on long-tailed Arab steeds or in queer carts drawn by donkeys or 
camels, while native Africans of various tribes and colors pass to and 
fro. 



WARFARE OF THE NATIVES ALONG THE UGANDA ROAD. 

57 


CHAPTER II. 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


Old and New Mombasa—Its Romantic History—Enthusiastic Reception to Roosevelt—Trop¬ 
ical Scenery—The Desert and the Jungle—The Railroad from Mombasa to Nairobi, the 
Chicago of East Africa. 


W HEN Roosevelt first landed on African soil lie did not come to 
a new country. Old Mombasa, where lie arrived April 31, is 
over 400 years old. He found it inhabited by over 60,000 peo¬ 
ple, half of whom African natives, lithe, dignified worshippers of the 
prophet of Mecca, stout Soudanese, calm and dusky Hindoos, alert and 




































58 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


warlike Somalis. The city well deserves its name, “The Battle City,” 
for it has for centuries been the bone of contention between the Portu¬ 
guese, the Arabs and the English on account of its great commercial im¬ 
portance as a depot of the trade in rubber, skins, ivory, and slaves, until 
its final capture by the Imperial British East African Company, in 1887, 
made an end of the old feuds. 

The new city is located nearer the ocean than the old. It has many 
attractive features, two or three comfortable hotels and an excellent 
clubhouse frequented by Americans, Englishmen and commercial 
travelers, and extends a hearty welcome to white visitors. The East 
India Bank is also located in the new city. One of its characteristic 
novelties is the many street car lines, which not only take care of the 
communication along the main thoroughfares but also branch off into 
every private house, the little cars which transport the wealthy Euro¬ 
pean residents to and from their offices being pushed along by native 
coolies. Roosevelt found this commodious and novel transportation 
very convenient in this tropical climate. Unfortunately the new city 
has no harbor, but two miles to the southeast is the port of Kilindinis, 
with anchorage for ships of the largest tonnage, which therefore first 
receives the important passengers and valuable cargoes destined for 
British East Africa and Mombasa, and no doubt in a not far distant 
future will become the headquarters both of the government, railroads 
and commerce. It was here Roosevelt and his party landed, and not¬ 
withstanding a tropical rain, pouring down in torrents, the shores 
were crowded with Afro-Europeans, Arabs, Hindoos and natives, and 
a military band struck up “The Star Spangled Banner,” and under 
the constant cheer of this mongrel population the Ex-President was 
conducted by the Commissioner of the province to the government 
house. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREAT HUNT. 

"With the eagerness and enthusiasm of the genuine sportsman and 
true American he did not stay here long, however, but at once started 
to make preparations for entering the wilds. 

You might imagine that anyone can go hunting in the wilds of 
Africa without government permission. Not so, however,. You have 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS, 


59 


to take out a license ranging from $85 for an elephant to $25 for a giraffe 
or rhinoceros and $15 for an antelope, and the killing is limted to two 



FIGHT BETWEEN ELEPHANT AND BHINOCEBOS. 


elephants, rhinoceri, hippopotomi and zebras, which animals as well as 
buffaloes and ostriches are classified and protected as Royal Game. 
The British authorities courteously offered to dispense with these 
formalities but in flue democratic spirit Roosevelt refused to receive 
special privileges and insisted, as he always has done in America, that 





































60 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


the law should be enforced. Lions and leopards are classed as pests and 
vermin condemned to extermination and, therefore, may be killed without 
a license. 

To a complete equipment of an African hunting expedition also be¬ 
longs the indispensable native help, which is usually figured at thirty 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 


THE AMEBIC AN DANIEL IN THE LION’S DEN. 




























































































FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


61 


bearers for each white person and his baggage weighing about sixty 
pounds. They are paid from $4.50 to $25 per month, besides board, 
consisting of cereals and fresh meat, of which they devour enormous 
quantities every day, not only picking the bones clean but also extract¬ 
ing the marrow. A medium-sized party will consume two elands and 
waterbucks, animals as big as our common ox, every day, if they can 
get it, and if they don’t they will be sure to grumble. 

Among Roosevelt’s best and most reliable helpers were the Somali 
or Shikaris. They are absolutely fearless in the face of death, being 
fatalists as all Mohammedans, scrupulously clean and as temperate 
as our most immaculate teetotalers—their religion absolutely prohibit¬ 
ing the use of intoxicants. They are most faithful servants and as ready 
to die for their master as other natives are to desert him. The records 
of African Hunting Grounds are full.of stories of the bravery of these 
sons of the wilderness. A Somali will for instance follow the fresh 
track of a lion to the mouth of its dark cave, the small opening of which 
will admit only two men. Without a moment’s hesitation they enter 
the cave one armed with a rifle the other with nothing but a butcher’s 
knife. Cheerily they proceed in the darkness chanting their “God 
willing we come back. ” Ora lion charges a white hunter and his Somali 
gun bearer. It crushes him to the ground, but swift as lightning the 
Somali circles around, springs upon the back of the infuriated' beast, 
cuts his teeth deep into his neck, pulls its ears and pounds his eyes so 
ferociously that the beast turns upon him, and gives the white hunter 
an opportunity to pull his rifle free and chase a bullet through the lion’s 
brains. 

A leader, a headsman, a gunbearer, a cook, a mess-boy and a tent-boy, 
twenty to twenty-five native bearers, tents, beds and provisions were 
attached to the expedition in Mombasa, and Roosevelt’s famous Safari, 
or hunting party, was ready to start out for the African jungles. 

eoosevelt’s ammunition in his African hunt. 

Roosevelt inaugurated a novelty in big game hunting when he left 
Mombasa in pursuit of elephant and rhinoceros, armed with an Ameri¬ 
can repeating rifle of far lighter bore than the weapons with which 


62 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


British sportsmen pursue the same animals, although the rhino is con¬ 
sidered about as dangerous game as can be found on the Dark Conti¬ 
nent, due to his habit of blindly charging at top speed any object he 
deems hostile. The former President will use a rifle of only 405 caliber 
in the chase. 



From the Minneapolis Journal 

THE TEDDY BEAR IN AFRICA. 




































FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


63 


This rifle is better known by the American term of “forty’’ caliber, 
and it would have been considered little short of suicide fifteen years 
ago to attempt the hunting of such big game with such a caliber. Im¬ 
provements in high pressure, smokeless powder and the development 
of the steel-jacketed bullet have increased the efficiency of the arm 
many times since then, however. The steel bullet was intended for the 
African buffalo, which is a far more dangerous customer than his 
American namesake used to be. 

This same gun with soft-pointed bullets may be used on such game 
as lions. It has teriffic ‘‘smashing” power, as it has tremendous veloc¬ 
ity, and the bullet spreads or mushrooms on impact, thus tearing a 
hole through soft tissue and the lighter bones through which the hand 
could be thrust. To penetrate the tough hide of a rhino, however, the 
steel bullet was used. 

For lighter game such as the African species of deer, and for long 
range shooting Roosevelt carried two 303 caliber repeaters, popularly 
known as “thirties.” 

For feathered game he had two twelve gauge repeating shotguns 
and two twenty-two caliber automatic rifles for small game and for 
amusement around camp. His shotgun ammunition was specially 
loaded for him and was in brass shells. The wads had been carefully 
waterproofed and instead of the shell being merely crimped over the 
wad at the end, it had been cut into small flanges and bent over. To 
prevent swelling in the moist climate, which might affect paper shells, 
the wad had been covered with wax. 

HEARTY WELCOME FOR OUR EX-PRESIDENT. 

A guard of honor, comprised of marines and blue jackets from the 
Pandora, was at the railroad station when the Roosevelt party arrived 
at Mombasa and was inspected by Roosevelt. A number of officials and 
civilians also were present, and the station building was decorated with 
flags. Roosevelt passed the morning at government house, where he 
was the guest of Mr. Jackson. Kermit and other members of the party 
occupied the time up to the departure of the train in driving about the 
city. 


64 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


From Mombasa Roosevelt dispatched a cablegram to the Kaiser ex¬ 
pressing his appreciation of his treatment on board the German 
steamer Admiral and admiration of the astounding growth of German 
colonization in Africa. At a dinner party given in his honor by mem¬ 
bers of the Mombasa Club Governor Jackson read the following tele¬ 
gram to Roosevelt from King Edward: 

“I bid you a hearty welcome to British East Africa and I trust that 
you will have a pleasant time and meet with every success.” 

Continuing Governor Jackson said Mr. Roosevelt had left the “Big 
Stick” at home, and, after seven strenuous years as President of the 
United States had come out to Africa to make use of the rifle. He 
promised the noted visitor an immense variety of game and good sport. 

When Roosevelt arose to reply he was enthusiastically received 
with full highland musical honors. He began with a tribute to the 
British people for their energy and genius in civilizing the uncivilized 
places of the earth. He said he was surprised at what he had heard of 
the progress of British East Africa, but he warned his hearers that 
they could not expect to achieve in a short time what it had taken 
America several hundred years to accomplish. He then emphasized the 
necessity of leaving local questions to be solved by the authorities on 
the spot and commented on the fact that the people at home knew little 
of affairs abroad. In this connection he cited the United States and 
the Philippine Islands. 

Mr. Roosevelt expressed his great pleasure at the welcome given to 
him by the British cruiser Pandora, whose rails and masts were manned 
by cheering sailors when the Admiral came into the harbor. He said 
he believed in peace, but considered that strength meant peace and he 
hoped that all the great nations would provide themselves with this 
means to the end. In conclusion, Mr. Roosevelt referred briefly to his 
future plans and gave some of his first impressions of the country. 

Before departing Roosevelt telegraphed to King Edward, thanking 
him for the message of greeting read at the dinner. 



THE CARTOONIST’S IDEA OF HUNTING IN THE JUNGLE. 

These humorists for many years have been picturing Teddy and the Teddy Bear and 
since he went to Africa they can’t resist following him. This clever little series of sketches 
speak for themselves. 












AFRICAN WARRIORS. 

They use either the “assegai,” which is a spear consisting of a long, wooden handle 
with an armored lancet-shaped point at one end, or the “knob-keerie. ” The latter is the 
weapon held in their right hands by these men. In addition each man carries a shield 
made of dried skin stretched around a wooden frame. 







FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


65 


OFF FROM MOMBASA FOR RANCH. 

Theodore Roosevelt and the members of his party left Mombasa 
at 2:30 P. M. April 22, on a special train for Kapiti Plains station, 
whence they were conveyed to the ranch of Sir Alfred Pease on the 
Athi river. Sir Alfred was already there, awaiting the coming of the 
guests. The party remained at the ranch for one week, making it the 
base for shooting expeditions and then moved on for Nairobi. Acting 
Governor Jackson, of the protectorate accompanied the party. 

The train ran upward and westward all day over ridge and valley 
and through broken ground, deep, rugged gorges and glades of palms 
and climbing plants. After Makindu station the train passed over 
immense green pastures, watered by streams wooded by dense shrub¬ 
bery and dark fir-looking trees. Looking out from the windows of his 
comfortable car, the American traveler could see a whole zoological 
garden of wild animals crowding the plains. Zebras, antelopes and 
gazelles in herds of from 300 to 600 gaze in mute astonishment at the 
speeding train or scamper shyly away while the steam-whistle fills the 
wilderness with its shrill and awe-inspiring noise. With his field glass 
the ex-President could see at a distance long lines of black wildebeests 
or gnus, wild ostriches and many kinds of smaller game. 

The Kapiti Plains are entirely bare of trees and covered with short 
bushy grass, while the numerous ravines are filled with weeds, reed and 
thorn, with here and there a water pool—favorite haunts for lions and 
rhinoceros. A famous hunter, Colonel G. E. Smith, Chief of the Anglo- 
German Boundary Survey, who has spent almost half a lifetime in the 
wildest places in Eastern Africa, killed in these same places seventeen 
rhinos in one day. Here Sir Alfred Pease has built a new house for 
the reception of Roosevelt. It is a genuine one-story African bunga¬ 
low of five rooms, located on the high south end of the Machakos range, 
nearly seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. From its broad 
veranda Roosevelt will have a splendid view over the surrounding 
olive-clad hills and the endless Kapiti Plains to where, at a distance of 
120 miles, the gigantic Mount Kilimanjaro towers 20,000 feet above 
the horizon. 

Arrived at Simba station we are at “The Place of the Lions”; and 


66 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


sometimes two or three or even half a dozen of these marauders are 
seen skulking across the plain, while smaller game is keeping at a re¬ 
spectful distance, or brooding in silence in the shoulder-high jungle. 
Farther away on the more remote plains, where the grass grows high 
from the fertile volcanic ground, we find the rhinoceros in his open 
pastures. 

A famous traveler who recently spent several weeks hunting m 
these regions describes his first encounter with one of these beasts as 
something overwhelmingly exciting and impressive. A black shadow 
in the middle of the sunlit plain this gigantic survivor from a past age 
was grazing calmly and leisurely, while the hoary domes of the sur¬ 
rounding mountain peaks formed a fitting background to the striking 
picture. The hunters walked up to the beast as near as possible, pro¬ 
tected by the shoulder of a hill, and the thud of the first bullet which 
struck his bony skull with an impact of a ton and a quarter piercing 
through hide, flesh and bone, re-echoed like distant thunder. The beast 
started, looked around, and then came bearing in upon the hunters in a 
clumsy trot like a great steam engine, indifferent to fear or pain. A few 
seconds more and he would have crushed us under his feet. As he was 
swerving to the right across our front we all fired a broadside into his 
huge body, and down he tumbled with a groan that shook the ground. 

It was while in Kapiti Plains that the news of the bitter attack on 
him for refusing to admit British reporters to his safari reached Roose¬ 
velt as told in another chapter. 

During his three weeks’ stay in Kapiti Plains Roosevelt killed four 
lions, two rhinoceros, two giraffes, two wildebeests and one Thompson 
gazelle. Kermit during the same time dispatched two lions, one cheetah, 
a species of leopard, one giraffe and one wildebeest. All the lions 
were killed in the Mau Hills, where the camp was pitched. Roosevelt’s 
mighty gun brought three of them to earth, each on the first shot.. Thus 
one of the former President’s fondest ambitions has been realized, and 
he is proud, too, that the fourth of the jungle kings fell before the rifle 
of his son Kermit, who, however, took three shots to kill his quarry. 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


67 


JOY IN FIRST LION HUNT. 

Both father and son were jubilant. It was their first lion hunt and 
so magnificent a kill was far beyond their expectations, but lions had 
been plentiful in the hills for the last month, and the English hunter, 
F. C. Selous, had been out for several days laying plans for their extinc¬ 
tion. How well he succeeded can be seen from the results of the chase. 

Mr. Selous accompanied the former President, who also was attended 
by the usual retinue of beaters. As a rule the beaters go into the jungle 
with considerable trepidation, but as Mr Roosevelt’s reputation as a 
hunter had reached there long before he arrived in person the beaters 
on this occasion were exceptionally enthusiastic. They seemed ever 
eager to play a part in the first hunt of the distinguished American. 

The caravan started early Thursday morning from the ranch of Sir 
Alfred Pease on the Athi River and proceeded slowly to the Mau Hills. 
This range is open for wide areas, but in places is covered with dense 
growths, where game is plentiful. 

The first night in camp was without especial incident, no attempt 
being made to go after lions, although their call was heard now and 
then during the night, but at dawn the camp was astir and the drive 
speedily organized. 


TEN KINDS OF GAME BAGGED. 

The native beaters set out in all directions under the instruction of 
the “head man,” armed with all sorts of noisemaking devices, which 
could not but arouse any game within earshot. Some of the beats 
proved blanks, but by nightfall no less than ten kinds of game had been 
bagged. 

Kermit during the greater part of the day did more effective work 
with his camera than he did with his gun, he and the other members of 
the party allowing Mr. Roosevelt the much prized shots. 

Details of the actual shooting were not brought down to Nairobi at 
once from the camp, but it was declared that in each case a single bullet 
from the ex-President’s rifle sufficed to bring down his lion. From this 
it is regarded that Mr. Roosevelt is living up to the reputation which he 
has gained in Africa of being a crack shot. All the lions were of normal 


68 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


size, and after the natives had dragged them together in the grass they 
executed the usual dances around the trophies. 

In the beginning of our first chapter you find a detailed account of 
this lion hunt. 

While the Eoosevelt expedition was in camp on the ranch of Sir 
Alfred Pease, at a point near Machakos, some cases of smallpox were 
discovered among the natives.' All the members of the party were 
well. May 4 Roosevelt bagged his fifth lion. His host, Sir Alfred 
Pease, made an effective sketch of him shooting his first lion over the 
shoulder of a native gun bearer at a distance of sixty yards. There was 
a perfect pest of ticks at Ivapiti Plains. While all the members of the 
expedition were bitten, none showed any signs of the dreaded fever. 
Roosevelt was boyishly exhuberant over the result of his lion hunt. 
The party’s bag for the first six days of real hunting was twenty-seven 
head of game, representing ten species. 

The dreaded fever, better known as the sleeping sickness is the 
scourge of Africa, and medical science has not yet succeeded in finding 
an effective remedy for its poisonous ravages. It is known to have its 
origin in the bite of a venemous insect, the tsetse fly, and its name is 
derived from a curious resemblance to sleep, which characterizes the 
last stages of the disease. The actual sting of the insect is not poison¬ 
ous but serves as an agent depositing a death-carrying parasite. The 
victim first becomes extremely excitable and nervous, then lapses into a 
doze at certain intervals, the attacks becoming more and more violent. 
At last the glands all over the body begin to swell and the pitiable 
sufferer sinks into a lethargy, from which lie never awakes. The 
patient may sleep for a year or two—and there is no relief but death. 
Two hundred thousand natives are known to have died from the disease 
and at present about a quarter of a hundred thousand are affected. 

KERMIT LOST IX NIGHT. 

One day when out on a hunting expedition Kermit lost 
his way from his father’s camp near Machakos and passed an entire 
night alone on horseback, riding through a region unknown to him. 
Finally he turned up at Kiu, a station on the railway forty miles below 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS. 


69 


Nairobi and thirty or forty miles southeast of Machakos. He had been 
following an old cart road from Machakos to Kiu, where the country 
was sparsely inhabited by natives of the Wakamba tribe, a peaceful 
people engaged chiefly in agriculture. 

From Kapiti our hunters moved next to the JaJa ranch as the 
guests of an American, William McMillan, and from there Roosevelt 
undertook several hunting expeditions. He went out one day and 
bagged a female rhinoceros. The first shot wounded her in the shoulder 
and the animal fled to the bushes. Roosevelt followed on horseback and 
six more shots were required to bring her down. The head and skin 
weighed 532 pounds. He also the same day added a hippopotamus to 
his big game bag. The animal was killed a short distance from the Jaja 
ranch. 

Speeding over the rolling and almost seamless surface of the Athi 
river district the train took our hunters in a few hours to Nairobi, the 
headquarters of the Uganda Railroad, and also a military depot and 
political centre. The city is well supplied with telgraph and telephone 
connections, its streets glitter with electric lights and automobiles run 
in every direction. It also is the headquarters for hunting expeditions 
and caravan parties, which arrive and depart daily, while parties loaded 
with trophies of the chase, and European and Hindu merchants are 
conspicuous everywhere. 

The American hunting expedition, of which Roosevelt is the head, 
selected Nairobi for its headquarters and from there made trips all over 
that part of the continent, and here most of the hunting and collecting 
was done. Space does not permit us to relate all the adventures of our 
ex-President. Neither would it interest our readers for it would simply 
be a repetition of what we have already told. August 23 Roosevelt killed 
his first elephant—and he did it all by himself too. The animal was a 
bull of moderate proportions as elephants go, and the skin was taken 
care of by the skilled taxidermists who follow the expedition. 


70 


FROM MOMBASA TO THE WILDERNESS, 



THE PRONGHORN ANTELOPE SEEN BY ROOSEVELT. 









































































































































































































































































































CHAPTER III. 

LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 


His Ancestors and Boyhood Days—College Studies—His Brilliant Political Career—On a 
Western Ranch—The Rough Rider—Stories and Anecdotes. 

T HEODORE ROOSEVELT, twenty-sixth President of the United 
States, was born in New York City, October 27, 1858; son of 
Theodore (1831-78) and Martha (Bulloch) Roosevelt, grandson 
of Cornelius Van Schaack and Margaret (Barnhill) Roosevelt, great- 
grandson of James (or Jacobus) John and Mary (Van Schaack) Roose¬ 
velt, and is descended in a direct line from Claes Martensoon and 
Jannetje (Thomas) Van Rosevelt, who came to New Amsterdam from 
Holland about 1651. 

He attended for a short time the McMullen School, New York City, 
but was so frail in health that he was unable to continue, and was then 
placed under private instructors at his home. He was tutored for col¬ 
lege by Mr. Cutler, subsequently the founder of the Cutler School, and 
was graduated from Harvard in 1880. 

Was married September 23,1880, to Alice, daughter of George Cabot 
and Caroline (Haskell) Lee of Boston, Mass. She died in 1883, leaving 
one daughter, Alice Lee. 

He became a student in the New York law school; was a Republi¬ 
can member of the New York assembly 1882, 1883 and 1884; was candi¬ 
date of his party for speaker of the assembly in 1884; chairman of the 
committee on cities and of a special committee known as the Roosevelt 
Investigating Committee. As a supporter of the civil service reform, 
he introduced bills which became laws affecting the government of New 
York City, and especially the patronage exercised by the sheriff, county 
clerk and register, which greatly reformed the conduct of their respect¬ 
ive offices. 

He was a delegate to the Republican State Convention of 1884; dele- 

71 


72 


LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 


gate-at-large from New York and chairman of the New York delegation 
to the Republican National Convention that met at Chicago, June 3, 
1884; purchased the Elkhorn and the Chimney Butte ranches at Medora 
on the Little Missouri River in North Dakota, where he lived, 1884-86. 

He was a member of the New York State Militia, 1884-88, serving in 



“I FOOLED YOU THIS TIME”—TEDDY. 
























LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 


73 


the Eighth Regiment, N. G. S. N. Y., as lieutenant, and for three years 
as captain. 

He was married secondly, December 2, 1886, to Edith Kermit, 
daughter of Charles and Gertrude Elizabeth (Tyler) Carow of New 
York City. 

He was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for mayor of New York 
City in 1886, when Abram S. Hewitt was elected; was in May, 1889, 
appointed on the U. S. Civil Service Commission in Washington, D. C., 
by President Harrison, and served as president of the commission. 
He was continued in office by President Cleveland, but resigned in May, 
1895, to accept the position of police commissioner of New York City 
in the administration of Mayor Strong, and he was president of the 
bi-partisan board, 1895-97. 

He was appointed assistant secretary of the U. S. Navy in April, 
1897, by President McKinley, and on the declaration of the war with 
Spain in April, 1898, he resigned to recruit the first U. S. V. Cavalry, 
a regiment of “Rough Riders” made up mostly of his acquaintances 
on the Western plains, including cowboys and miners, with some mem¬ 
bers of the college athletic clubs of New York and Boston—men who 
could ride, shoot and live in the open. He was commissioned lieutenant- 
colonel, May 6, 1898, and was promoted to the rank of colonel after the 
battle of La Quassina, San Juan, when Col. Leonard Wood was pro¬ 
moted to brigadier-general and assigned to the governorship of 
Santiago. 

When the war closed, the Republican party of his native State nomi¬ 
nated him their candidate for governor, and he was elected over Van 
Wyck, Democrat, Kline, Prohibitionist, Hanford, Social Labor, and 
Bacon, Citizens’ ticket, by a plurality of 17,786 votes in a total vote of 
1,343,968. He served as governor of New York, 1899-1900. His admin¬ 
istration as governor was conspicuous in his thorough work in reform¬ 
ing the canal boards; instituting an improved system of civil service, 
including the adoption of the merit system in county offices, and in 
calling an extra session of the legislature to secure the passage of a 
bill he had recommended at the general session, taking as real estate 
the value of railroads and other franchises to use public streets, in spite 
of the protests of corporations and Republican leaders. 


74 


LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 


He was nominated Vice-President of the United States by the Re¬ 
publican National Convention that met at Philadelphia, June, 1900, 
where he was forced by the demands of the Western delegates, to accept 
the nomination, with William McKinley for President, and he was 
elected November 6, 1900. He was sworn into office as the twenty-sixth 
President of the United States, September 14, 1901, by reason of the 
assassination of President McKinley; Roosevelt being, at the time, less 
than forty-three years old, the youngest man in the history of the United 
States to have attained the chief magistracy of the government. He 
served to the end of the presidential term, which expired March 4,1905. 

At the following election he was re-elected with the greatest ma¬ 
jority any presidential candidate had attained so far, and his adminis¬ 
tration during the four years of his last term was characterized by the 
same honesty, fearlessness and diplomacy, which had already made 
him so dear to the American people. To the last he was faithful to the 
trust imposed upon him and when he retired to private life the general 
verdict of friend and foe was that he had lived up to his motto and 
given everybody a square deal. 



CHAPTER IV. 

STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 

How He Looked when a Boy—Was a Born Leader—The Old Dutch Reformed Church—How 
He Strengthened His Delicate Frame—First Love. 

T HEODORE ROOSEVELT was born in that old, aristocratic por¬ 
tion of New York known as Gramercy Park. The family resi¬ 
dence was in East Twentieth Street, just beyond Fifth Avenue, 
the number being 28. Many of the people in that neighborhood remember 
most vividly the childhood days of “Little Teddy.” One of the neigh¬ 
bors, in speaking of his infancy and boyhood days, has said: 

“Asa young boy he was thin-shanked, pale and delicate, giving little 
promise of the amazing vigor of his late hife. To avoid the rough, 
treatment of the public school, he was tutored at home, also attended 
a private school for a time—Cutler’s, one of the most famous of its day. 
Most of his summers, and in fact two-thirds of the year, he spent at the 
Roosevelt farm near Oyster Bay, then almost as distant in time from 
New York as the Adirondacks now are. 

“For many years he was slow to learn and not strong enough to 
join in the play of other boys; but as he grew older he saw that if he 
ever amounted to anything he must acquire vigor of body. With char¬ 
acteristic energy he set about developing himself. 

“He swam, he rowed, he ran, he tramped the hills back of the Bay, 
for pastimes, studying and cataloguing the birds native to his neighbor¬ 
hood, and thus he laid the foundation of that incomparable physical 
vigor from which rose his future prowess as a ranchman and hunter.” 

President Roosevelt’s father was wise enough to patronize the pub¬ 
lic schools by sending his children through them. Here they learned 
the American lesson of mixing with their neighbors’ children and of 
taking the place their abilities entitled them to in the classes. 

The children were given the best educational advantages to be ob- 

75 



76 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 


tained. They attended private institutions, as did most of the children 
whose parents were wealthy and belonged to the same set. The family 
lived right in an atmosphere of the old Dutch stock, which had advanced 
to a high premium years before Theodore was born. The spirit of his 
family, however, was for sterling quality, merit and high character in 
their children rather than an exclusiveness from those around them 
who happened to be less fortunate. They were intent upon preserving 
close and intimate relations with the world as they found it. This is 
certainly the true American spirit and is reflected in our President 
to-day in the highest possible degree. Theodore Roosevelt is a striking 
illustration of what early training will do for a man. 

A SYSTEMATIC CHURCH-GOER. 

The Roosevelts were strict church people. They belonged to the 
Dutch Reformed Church. All of the children were devoted to their 
church and attended it and worked with it with all their heart and soul. 
The church-going of the Roosevelts was not a mere perfunctory matter. 
The sermons that young Theodore listened to, because of their length, 
would try the patience of too many of our boys in this day. There was 
too masterful a hand and heart back of Theodore Roosevelt’s church¬ 
going to permit or desire his escaping any of the services. Through all 
his busy life, Mr. Roosevelt has followed closely the habits of church¬ 
going that he formed in his childhood and boyhood days. He still re¬ 
tains the traditions of his ancestors in their idea regarding the Sabbath 
and religious services for the whole family. 

OVERCAME THE IMPEDIMENT OF A DELICATE FRAME. 

The high straight-backed seats of his old church in New York are 
something of a memory to him, for new and more modern pews have 
taken their place. But the relation which he began with that old family 
church continues to this day. 

The fact of Theodore’s delicate physique was a matter of deep con¬ 
cern for his parents. He possessed the robust spirit of his ancestors 
and with it presented a more volatile quality than is usually found in 
the Hollander with his phlegmatic temperament. Young Theodore had 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 


77 


the energy and ambition, but did not possess the physical force to back up 
bis desires and bis purposes. His lack of muscular powers caused him 
to suffer throughout bis boyhood days, in comparison with bis school¬ 
mates and companions. 

With the will power that has carried him over so many obstacles, 
Theodore resolved to overcome bis impediment of a delicate frame. He 
turned bis effort and time to developing the strength which Nature bad 
denied him and which be so much desired. He went about this task 
systematically. He was out of doors in the open air continually. He 
exercised by means of walking and horseback riding, and other physical 
exercises. We have in this robust man to-day an example of what deter¬ 
mination and a systematic course of physical culture will do for a deli¬ 
cate young person. 

At school Theodore Roosevelt was from the first a good student and 
a model scholar. We have read of many great men who were dullards 
at school. It is recorded that General Grant, who graduated in the class 
of ’44, was almost at its foot, and that Walter Scott, the great novelist, 
was most stupid at school. Neither could apply himself to a hook. They 
developed great talent, however, later in life. They began to be great 
men at about the age that Theodore Roosevelt was when he entered the 
White House as the nation’s Chief Executive. Theodore Roosevelt, 
however, was a bookworm from his earliest days, and his devotion to 
study was inspiring for his fellow students. 

A LOVE STORY, 

An interesting romance is told of Theodore’s early life. He became 
acquainted with Edith Carow, a girl of his own age. She was a fellow 
student at school and belonged to the same social set. A most charming 
romance continued between the two from the time they were mere chil¬ 
dren until he entered upon college life at Harvard. They had been 
constantly together during their earlier school days, and in those old 
days they had spent many hours together over their games in Union 
Park. Her home was in Fourteenth Street, very near Union Square. 
This was in a very aristocratic part of the city in those days, a strictly 
residential district, and the great business blocks that now surround 
Union Square had not begun to appear in that day. 


78 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT . 


l r oung Theodore and Edith met at the same birthday parties and 
went over their lessons together in the same school. This was sufficient 
reason for their intimacy. Later, Edith was placed in a fashionable 
boarding school. Miss Comstock’s School, where Edith attended, had 
on its roll many young ladies at that time who were great friends of 
Edith’s, and to this day vividly recall her romance with young Theo¬ 
dore. It is unnecessary to say that they all enjoy relating it. 

Edith’s father was a business man, and her mother was, by birth, 
Miss Gertrude Tyler of Connecticut. Her father was General Tyler. 
Her family was one of wealth and social position. Theodore occujpied 
a similar position in society, and his father was a lawyer and judge and 
had been in turn an alderman, a member of the Legislature at Albany, 
and a representative in Congress. 

SHE LIKED TEDDY ROOSEVELT. 

Edith Kermit Carow has said, in the happy, established days since 
her marriage, that she had “liked Teddy Eoosevelt in those distant times 
because he could do so much more than she could.” And yet he was 
a delicate stripling of a boy, while she was possessed of all the vigor of 
a healthy girlhood. But Theodore Eoosevelt had strong will power, de¬ 
termination, independence and sincerity, and this was enough for Edith. 

Theodore’s brother testifies to the fact that Theodore never permitted 
himself nor Edith to be imposed upon. He was ready to champion her 
cause at all times, and this meant everything to Edith. Later in life 
Theodore discovered more than a friend of his childhood days in the girl 
companion of his leisure hours. He had found one who sympathized with 
him and his work. Moreover, she had faith in him and encouraged him. 
When mature years came, after sorrow had visited him, he found in her 
the one to share his home, to increase his fortune, and to exalt and make 
sacred his success. 

LAYING THE FOUNDATION. 

Theodore, after a thorough preparation, entered Harvard University, 
determined to take the full college course. Here he spent four years. 
He proved at Harvard that he was well equipped for the work 
before him. He had taken the greatest delight in history and civil gov- 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 


79 


eminent as studies. Mathematics was something of a task, but he had 
made himself master of his inclinations and desires. This explains why 
he could apply himself to mathematics with success. He was imagina¬ 
tive, and mathematics in any of the branches never was attractive to an 
imaginative man. He loved books of adventure. He was thoroughly 
familiar with the story of his own country. He was also well informed 
regarding modern Europe. He had been an incessant reader and student 
of history. This was easy for him, hut he made up his mind to devote 
himself to studies less attractive for him. He realized that this was 
necessary to give him a well-rounded and perfectly-balanced education. 
The mental training he secured in following out his determination must 
be in large part responsible for the close-knit intellectual fiber which his 
manhood has revealed. It was the substantial structure upon which his 
later fancy could build, just as his acquired physical strength formed a 
magazine from which his tireless energy might draw without, fear of 
exhausting it. 

During the last McKinley campaign it was said that “Theodore 
Roosevelt was born with a gold spoon in his mouth.” But the charge is 
unfair. He was an ordinary boy as to mental attainments, and consid¬ 
erably under the average in physical strength. Whatever success has 
come to him is his from an inherent will that would not brook defeat in 
any line rather than from peculiar advantages which he inherited. 

He was born with many social advantages and with wealth. But 
these have failed to bring success to thousands of men. We ourselves 
can cite instances where wealth and social position have more often 
been a stumbling-block to young men rather than a help in gaining for 
them success and position. Certainly Theodore Roosevelt is one of the 
most striking examples in America of a young man who has advanced 
simply because of his own merit. 

He is a type of American manhood that of which we are all proud. 

The following characteristic story from his boyhood is told by a close 
friend of the Roosevelt family: 

At the age of eleven years, young Roosevelt made a voyage across 
the Atlantic with his father. A boyhood friend, by name George Crom¬ 
well, tells several amusing incidents of the European voyage. It was a 


80 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 


great event in 1869 to cross the Atlantic, particularly for youngsters, 
all of them under eleven years of age. 

“As I remember Theodore,” recalls Mr. Cromwell, “he was a tall, 
thin lad, with bright eyes and legs like pipe-stems. 

“One of the first things I remember about him on that voyage was, 
that after the ship had got out of sight of land he remarked, half to him¬ 
self, as he glanced at the water, ‘I guess there ought to be a good many 
fish here. ’ Then an idea suddenly struck him, and turnig to me he said: 
‘George, go get me a small rope from somewhere, and we’ll play a fishing 
game.’ I don’t know why I went at once in search of that line, without 
asking why he didn’t go himself; but I went, and it never occurred to me 
to put the question. He had told me to go, and in such a determined way 
that it settled the matter. 

A MASTERLY LEADER FROM BOYHOOD. 

“Even then he was a leader—a masterful, commanding little fellow— 
who seemed to have a peculiar quality of his own of making his playmates 
obey him, not at all because we were afraid, but because we wanted to, 
and somehow felt sure we would have a good time and get lots of fun if we 
did as he said. 

“Well, I went after the line and brought it to him. While I was gone 
on the errand he had thought out all the details of the fishing game, and 
had climbed on top of a coiled cable; for, of course, he was to be the 
fisherman. 

“ ‘Now,’ he said, as I handed him the line, ‘all you fellows lie down 
flat on the deck here, and make believe to swim argund like fishes. I’ll 
throw one end of the line down to you, and the first fellow that catches 
hold of it is a fish that has bit my hook. He must just pull as hard as he 
can, and if he pulls me down off this coil of rope, why then he will be the 
fisherman and I will be a fish. But if he lets go, or if I pull him up here 
off the deck, why I will still be the fisherman. The game is to see how 
many fish each of us can land up here. The one who catches the most 
fish wins.’ ” 

“The rest of us lay down flat on our stomachs,” Mr. Cromwell says, 
in continuation of his narrative, “and made believe to swim; and, Theo- 



Copyright 1909, by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

DRAGGED FROM VICTORIA NYANZA LAKE BY 120 MEN AND WOMEN. 

This huge Hippopotamus which weighed over two tons was dragged ashore with six 
bullets in its massive head. Three hundred natives gathered around and fell upon it like 
Vultures cutting and slashing the carcass. Only men eat Hippopotamus meat, the women 
being afraid to eat it for fear of being childless. 



Photograph Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

THEY ARE TOO EAGER FOR THE MEAT TO NOTICE THE CAMERA. 

The Eland is one of the rarer types of Antelope and its meat is excellent eating. 
Some of Col. Roosevelt’s boys have killed one and were snapped by the photographer in 
the act of skinning it. 













AFRICAN NATIVES DEFYING THE LIGHTNING. 

Among the curious superstitions of African natives are that of making rain, and the 
one depicted in this scene of defying the lightning. 

















STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT. 


81 


dore, standing above ns on the coiled cable, threw down one end of bis 
line—a thin but strong rope. If I remember correctly my brother was 
the first fish to grasp the line—and then commenced a mighty struggle. It 
seemed to be much easier for the fish to pull the fisherman down than for 
the fisherman to haul up the dead weight of a pretty heavy boy lying flat 
on the deck below him—and I tell you it was a pretty hard struggle. My 
brother held onto the line with both hands and wrapped his legs around it, 
grapevine fashion. Theodore braced his feet on the coiled cable, stiffened 
his back, shut his teeth hard, and wound his end of the line around his 
waist. At first he tried by sheer muscle to pull the fish up—but he soon 
found it was hard work to lift up a boy about as heavy as himself. 

THE FISH CAUGHT BY STRATEGY. 

‘ ‘ Then another bright idea struck him. He pulled less and less, and 
at last ceased trying to pull at all. Of course the fish thought the fisherman 
was tired out, and he commenced to .pull, hoping to get Theodore down 
on deck. He didn’t succeed at first, and pulled all the harder. He rolled 
over on his back, then on his side, then sat up, all the time pulling and 
twisting and yanking at the line in every possible way; and that was 
just what Theodore hoped the fish would do. You see, all this time, while 
my brother was using his strength, Theodore simply stood still, braced 
like steel, and let him tire himself out. 

“Before very long the fish was so out of breath that he couldn’t pull 
any longer. Besides, the thin rope had cut his hands and made them 
sore. Then the fisherman commenced slowly and steadily to pull on the 
line, and in a very few minutes he had my brother hauled up alongside 
of him on the coil of cable. ’ ’ 

The elder Roosevelt was a firm believer in hard work, and made this a 
part of the science he knew so well—the science of bringing up a boy. 
Although a man of wealth and position he taught his children—the four 
of them, two boys and two girls—the virtue of labor, and pointed with 
the finger of scorn to the despicable thing called man who lived in idle¬ 
ness. With such teachings at home, it is no wonder that Theodore was 
moved to declare: 

“I was determined as a boy to make a man of myself.’’ 


82 


STORIES AND ANECDOTES ABOUT ROOSEVELT, 



GIRAFFES GALLOPING OFF WITH HUNTERS IN HOT PURSUIT, 














































CHAPTER V. 

BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED IN BRITISH EAST 

AFRICA. 

The Lion and Other Beasts of Prey—The Elephant and Other Huge Thick-Skinned Animals— 
The Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus—The Royal Game—The Buffalo, the Giraffe, the 
Camel and the African Antelope—Monkeys, Crocodiles, Birds, Snakes and Other Venomous 
Reptiles. 

F OREMOST among the wild beasts of the African wilderness stands 
the lion, the King of the forests and jungles. He is exquisitely 
formed by nature for the predatory habits which he is destined to 
pursue. Though considerably under four feet in height, he is enabled, 
by means of the tremendous machinery wherewith nature has gifted him, 
to dash to the grave and overcome almost every beast of the forest, no 
matter how superior to him in weight and stature. The powerful buffalo 
and the gigantic elephant not excepted. 

The full-grown male lion is adorned with a rank and shaggy mane 
almost reaching to the ground and of a dark or golden yellow color. The 
females have no mane, being covered with a glossy coat of tawny hair. 
The color of his fur makes it almost impossible to discover him in the 
dark, where his eyes, which glisten in the night like balls of fire, are 
almost the only signs of his stealthy and silent approach. His habits are 
nocturnal. During the day he lies resting in the thickets or in some inac¬ 
cessible cave, and not until the sun sets does he start out on his search 
for prey. It is then his loud, deep-toned, solemn roars, repeated five of six 
times in quick succession, and increasing in loudness to the third or 
fourth, when it dies away in a low, deep moaning, or in five or six muffled 
sounds resembling a distant thunder, startles the forest and warns its 
denizens of the approaching danger. 

Next to the lion the leopard or panther and the hunting leopard is 
the most formidable beast of prey in the Dark Continent. His spotted 


S3 


84 


BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED. 


coat, playful manners and wild, graceful springs, as he is romping around 
and sporting with his cubs, or even with lions, reminds one of his feline 
relation, our domestic cat. He is, however, much larger, measuring in 
length nearly five feet, not inclusive of three feet of tail. 

In its habits it differs essentially from the lion, being thoroughly at 
home in trees, running up a straight-stemmed and smooth-barked trunk 



AFRICAN PANTHERS. 


with the speed and agility of a monkey. Moreover the leopard is a much 
more active animal than the lion, frequently taking tremendous leaps 
and springs. 

From their habit of lurking in the vicinity of the habitations of man, 
to prey upon cattle, ponies, donkeys, sheep, goats and dogs, leopards 
are frequently brought into collision with the natives, and a leopard being 
mobbed in a thicket, from which he will charge several times, and bite 
and claw half a dozen, before he is despatched or makes his escape, is 









































BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED. 


85 


no uncommon occurrence in Africa. It is but seldom that the leopard 
takes to man-eating, though in some instances it has occurred. His dis¬ 
tribution is more extensive than that of the lion, embracing, besides Af¬ 
rica, nearly the whole of Asia, from Persia to Japan, but not extending 
as far north as Siberia. 

Notwithstanding his ferocious nature the leopard has often been 
tamed, and, indeed, almost domesticated, being permitted to range 
the house at will, greatly to the consternation of strange visitors. This 
complete state of docility can, however, only take place in an animal which 
has either been born in captivity, or taken at so early an age that its 
savage properties have never had time to expand. Even in this case the 
disposition of the creature must be naturally good, or it remains proof 
against kindness and attention, never losing a surliness of temper that 
makes its liberation too perilous an experiment. 

If the lion is majestic and the leopard ferocious and bloodthirsty, 
the African hyena is, by common consent of hunters, travelers and nat¬ 
uralists, classed as the most skulking, cowardly, cruel and treacherous of 
all beasts of prey, and it would be difficult to find even one who would 
defend it. 

The hyena is remarkable for its predatory, ferocious and cowardly 
habits. The African spotted hyena is much larger and more powerful 
than the striped and shaggy, rough-coated one, which is found in Syria 
and Palestine, but the habits of all are very similar. The hyenas, al¬ 
though very repulsive in appearance, are yet very useful, as they prowl 
in search of dead animals, especially of the larger kinds, and will devour 
them even when putrid, so that they act the same part among beasts that 
the vultures do among birds. They not unfrequently dig up recently 
interred corpses and voraciously devour all carcasses they can find, 
Their jaws and teeth are exceedingly powerful, as they can crush the 
thigh-bone of an ox with apparently little effort. 

The favorite haunts of the hyena are holes and caves in the rocks or 
a hole dug by itself on the side of a hill or ravine. The call of the hyena 
is a very disagreeable, unearthly cry, and dogs are often tempted out 
by it when near, and fall a victim to the stealthy marauder. On one oc¬ 
casion a small dog belonging to a farmer was taken off by a hyena very 


86 


BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED 


early in the morning. The den of this beast was known to be not far off 
in some sandstone cliffs, and some natives went after it, entered the cave, 
killed the hyena, and returned the dog alive, with but little damage done 
to it. A hyena, though it does not appear to move very fast, goes over 
rough ground in a wonderful manner, and it takes a good long run to 



HUNTING TIIE BUFFALO IN AFRICA. 


overtake it on horseback, unless in most favorable ground. A stray hyena 
is now and then met with by a party of sportsmen, followed and speared; 
but sometimes not till after a run of three or four miles, if the ground is 
broken by ravines. It is a cowardly animal, and shows but little fight 
when brought to bay. The young are very tamable and show great signs 
of attachment to their owner, in spite of all that has been written about 
the untamable ferocity of the hyena. 

The striped hyena’s food is mainly carrion or carcasses killed by 
other animals; and in inhabited districts the animal is much dreaded on 
account of its grave-robbing propensities. Portions of such carcasses as 




















































BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED 


87 


it finds are eaten on the spot, while other parts are dragged off to its den, 
the situation of which is generally indicated by the fragments of bones 
around the entrance. These hyenas will also feast on skeletons that 
have been picked down to the bone by jackals and vultures; the bone- 



THE SACRED BABOON. 


cracking power of the hyena’s jaws rendering such relics acceptable, if 
not favorite, food. 

The striped hyena—probably on account of its “body-snatching” pro¬ 
pensities—is cordially detested by the natives of all the countries it 
inhabits. "When a hyena is killed, the body is treated with every mark of 
indignity, and finally burnt. On one occasion, says a traveler, I came 
across a party of natives cruelly ill-treating a nearly full-grown hyena, 






























88 


BIG GAME WHICH ROOSEVELT HUNTED. 


which had been rendered helpless by its jaws being muzzled and its feet 
broken. I soon ended the sufferings of the p%or brute by a bullet. 

Although, owing to their nocturnal habits, hyenas are seldom seen, 
yet in some parts of Africa, from the multitude of their tracks, they must 
be very common. 

The African spotted hyena is much larger and more powerful than 
the striped species. It inhabits the greater part of Africa at the present 
day. Formerly the geographical range of this hyena was far more exten¬ 
sive than it is at present, as is proved by the vast quantities of its remains 
found in the caves of various parts of Europe, from Gibraltar in the 
south, to Yorkshire in the north. It was formerly considered, indeed, 
that the so-called “cave-hyena” indicated a distinct species from the 
living one; but zoologists are now generally in accord in regarding the 
two as specifically identical, although the fossil European hyenas were 
generally of larger dimensions than the existing African form. 

Other wild animals of the African jungles, many of whom have 
fallen for our ex-President’s swift bullets, are the Black Rhinoceros, 
who from his dark hiding-places, tearing through whole caravans of 
tourists, in blind fury charges and slays his victims; then there is the 
hereditary foe of the lion, the Buffalo, the favored meat for the King 
of Beasts; the great dog killer, the Sable Antelope, who mercilessly 
drives his spear-like horns through the hunter’s body; the Haartbeasts 
and Gnus, stronger and swifter than the horse; and last, but not least, the 
huge elephant, whose gigantic tusks are one of the most valuable articles 
of export from Africa. 

No sooner were the skins of the animals properly prepared than 
they were sent in casks to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, 
where the work of stuffing them was undertaken. The first consignment 
of boxes arrived Sept. 1. Scientists of the institution expressed them¬ 
selves as having never seen a more interesting and well preserved col¬ 
lection of mammals and birds. There were also valuable species of 
rats, rabbits, moles, mice and other small mammals. What the scientists 
considered a great prize was the warty rat. It is slightly.larger than 
the ordinary rat and has two warts on its lower lip and has never before 
been seen in this country. 


CHAPTER VI. 

ROOSEVELT'S HUNTING GROUNDS. 


British East Africa—The Chicago of East Africa—Tropical Scenery—Primeval Forests, 
Rocky Mountains and Running Streams—Wonders of the Animal and Vegetable King¬ 
doms—Pheasants, Doves, Monkeys—Flowers in all the Colors of the Rainbow—Man's 
Cruelty Marring the Beauty of Nature. 

B RITISH East Africa, which was penetrated by Roosevelt on his 
famous hunting expedition, is located south of Egyptian Soudan, 
Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland, and north of German East 
Africa. It stretches as far west as to the Congo State and on the east is 
bordered by the Indian Ocean. The Equator passes right through it 





Pi 




rik 




Khhtfqi$rifif.r/ -' 1/j/, , 'MVjSn 

TjXJs'.l 


RHINOCEROS BULL. 



































90 


ROOSEVELTS HUNTING GROUNDS. 


between Nairobi and Port Florence and it, therefore, has all the charac¬ 
teristics of the Tropics. 





Kcjiia 


RAXQI 

UKinar t 




Jjobg/* 


Smith \ 

i Tt5MinaitJ> 
l wbi j U jcj?r aTca ^ 

VAthi River v 


K&pjii Plains\ 
’St%£ak 08 Rood \ 

M -*• Sapch 


CERMAN 
© EAST AFRIC 


f SOUTHERN 
CAME RESERVE 


ROOSEVELT HUNTING GROUNDS. 


It is, however, not an entirely barbarian country. The British have 
opened up its vast resources to civilization by establishing a government, 
building cities, furthering trade and commerce and last, but not least, 
by the construction of the great Uganda Railroad, which connects Mom- 


























ROOSEVELTS HUNTING GROUNDS. 


91 


basa and the coast with Lake Victoria Nyanza, one of the largest inland 
lakes in the world. This road, which passes through one of the most won¬ 
derful regions and is 600 miles long, has cost thousands of lives and about 
$50,000,000, but this immense sacrifice seems small compared to the great 
benefits that have accrued from it to civilization. It has begun 
the transformation of Equatorial Africa from a wilderness into a Garden 
of Eden; it has made a wonderful country and a land full of charming at¬ 
tractions for the painter and the artist accessible to the scientific explorer 
and to industry and commerce; it has opened up the way for the Christian 
missionaries and prepared the way for the entrance of civilization 
into the interior of Africa, and last but not least, made it possible for our 
Teddy to reach his hunting grounds with full strength of body and keen¬ 
ness of mind to the strenuous work before him. It enables him to make 
a journey of about 600 miles, which by caravan could not be accomplished 
in less than three months’ time and at the expenditure of a small for¬ 
tune in cash, in less than forty-eight hours at a cost of from six to fifty 
dollars, according to the class of accommodation. 

Through wilds, forests, craggy mountains and pestiferous jungles 
this gigantic work went on for six years. Neither poisonous insects, 
deadly disease, venomous reptiles, warlike native tribes, ferocious wild 
beasts, or the fearful ravages of the red hot blasts from the never-resting 
furnaces of a tropical climate, before which both imported and native 
laborers fell like soldiers swept away by the Gatling gun, could stop the 
work and when the line in 1903 was accomplished everyone felt that one 
of the most important milestones in the development of Equatorial East 
Africa was reached. 

Famous travelers who have recently made trips along this road, give 
pictorial descriptions of the scenery, now so much more interesting 
to us as the theatre of our popular ex-President’s latest achievements. 

The Uganda Railroad runs sharply upward and westward to the 
highlands of Nairobi through undulating ground covered with 
luxuriant tropical vegetation until 150 miles from the coast it reaches 
its extreme elevation of 8,500 feet above the level of the sea. Various 
and surprising is the panorama that passes before the traveler’s eyes. 
Many colored birds and gorgeous butterflies flutter in the rich foliage 


92 


ROOSEVELTS HUNTING GROUNVS 


of the tropical trees or among the flowers, that glitter in all the colors of 
the rainbow. Deep ravines, filled by rushing streams and foaming cat¬ 
aracts open up below through glades of palms and vine-clad trees. 

Here and there along the route the traveler sees African plantations, 
with neat cottages and villages and other works of advancing civiliza¬ 
tion. The rubber, fibre and cotton raised on these productive farms will 
in the future supply the yet unmeasured demand of Europe and America 



GIRAFFES SEEN BY ROOSEVELT ALONG THE UGANDA RAILROAD. 


and become an inexhaustible source of wealth to this yet unbroken soil. 

About one hundred miles further west the train enters the barren 
waste known as the Taru desert. It is here where Roosevelt from his 
commodious palace cars saw the prowling hyena, or the lion and the 
leopard seeking their prey among the herds of gazelles and antelopes 
that still remind the traveler of animal life. 

As the train has been climbing higher and higher the country loses 
its tropical aspect. Instead of the impenetrable jungle luxuriant forests 























ROOSEVELTS HUNTING GROUNDS. 


93 


please the eye, the palm gives place to the olive, the dark fir to the 
mangoes, and endless fields of green grass watered by streams and 
broken by bold uptowering bluffs and ridges. 

Upon reaching Voi, one of the many little stations the traveler meets 
every few miles along the road, our ex-President availed himself of the 
facilities the government had provided the tourists for seeing one of 
the most magnificent sights in the Dark Continent, the snow-clad, 
Kilimanjaro, whose shimmering summit shrouded in the blaze of clouds 
rises 19,700 feet above the level of the sea, and is known as the highest 
mountain peak in Africa. A good road leads to the very foot of the 
“Mountain of the Spirit Ajax,” as it is called by the superstitious na¬ 
tives, but the climbing in a heat of over 100 degrees through thickets of 
bamboo and rocks is a feat that has only been accomplished two or three 
times, and is more dangerous than pleasant. 

Along the railroad may be seen scattering villages of the generally 
agricultural, but sometimes dangerous Wangtka tribe, and also the 
Wakamba, the largest tribe of East Africa and the only one to hold its 
own against the war-like and hunting Masui. The naked natives around 
Victoria Nyanza are bronze models of physical perfection and moral 
and peaceable habits, while the Nandi tribe are known for stealing tele¬ 
graph wire for bracelets and earrings and railroad bolts for spear 
heads. The native Kingdom of Uganda is a well organized state under 
British protection. The country is fertile and abounds in cotton, cocoa, 
coffee, oranges, lemons, pineapples, and the people are eager for knowl¬ 
edge. From Naimbi to Florence the train passes through a region of 
farms and plantations, and then we enter upon the scenic section of the 
Uganda railway, which rises 2,000 feet, the first 24 miles pitching over 
cliffs, volcanic hills, craters, escarpments and abrupt land pitches. Lake 
Naivasha, with its many lovely islands and bright blossoms, hides under 
its blue waves a submerged crater. Thousands of water fowls cover its 
surface, while big game and great herds of sheep and goats surround its 
shores. In this vicinity is a breeding farm for zebras, where the govern¬ 
ment tries to solve the horse problem for Africa by producing a hybrid 
once. Near the charming salt lake of Nakura, you cross the Mou escarp¬ 
ment on twenty-seven huge viaducts built by American engineers. The 


94 


ROOSEVELTS HUNTING GROUNDS. 


last section of the railroad runs through a swampy but fertile country, 
and the approach to Port Florence, a transfer station on Lake Victoria 
Nyanza, is anything but inviting. Across the lake lies Entebbe, the 
British capital of the Uganda Protectorate. In this carefully planned 
city, charmingly located on shores of lake blazing with color and dotted 
with gemlike islands, Roosevelt and his party were splendidly enter¬ 
tained by Judge George Ennis and his lovely wife, who is a native of 
Chicago, and the only American in the city. 

Mrs. Ennis was formerly Miss Ethel Kirkland, daughter of Mrs. 
Joseph Kirkland of Rush street, Chicago. Her husband’s (Judge En¬ 
nis) position is second only to that of the governor of Uganda, and 
Mrs. Ennis, who is the only American in the Colony, is regarded as the 
foremost hostess in Entebbe. All noted people who visit Central Africa 
enjoy the hospitality of the Ennis home, and among those who have 
stayed under its roof are the Duke d’Abruzzi, the famous Dr. Koch 
and others. 

The house or bungalow, where Roosevelt was received, is a rambling 
one, gray in color, with a sloping roof of red corrugated iron. It is set 
in a large garden, sweet with frangipani, bright with crimson hibiscus 
and yellow accacia and numberless varieties of roses. The side ver¬ 
andas are covered with vines and the garden is fenced with plaited 
branches of the elephant plant, which shields it from curious persons 
passing on the red road beyond. The servants’ quarters are apart from 
the house. 

This is the lovely picture that greeted Roosevelt when he reached 
Entebbe, 3,700 feet above the level of the sea, and when he looked out 
of his window he could see Lake Victoria Nyanza. 

Roosevelt’s hostess holds a unique position in her adopted home. 
In the heart of Africa, she is surrounded by all the formality of high 
life in London. Judge Ennis has a retinue of native servants, of various 
tribes, quick to do the bidding of their young mistress. The only white 
one is the nurse for the small son and heir. 

After the strenuous time which Roosevelt had spent in and around 
Nairobi h« and his son enjoyed immensely the social relaxation of En¬ 
tebbe and the comparative quiet of their surroundings. 


CHAPTER VII. 

ROOSEVELT'S LIFE IN THE WEST. 


Exciting Adventures—A Mistaken Ruffian—A Western Episode—The Pleasures of the 
Chase—Shoots His First Buffalo—Kills Two Deer at Four Hundred Yards—An Exciting 
Elk Hunt—Hunting Dangerous Game—Stands Off a Band of Indians—Tribute to the 
Rough Riders. 

M R. ROOSEVELT has told the story of his Western life in several 
exceedingly interesting volumes. Although full of exciting adven¬ 
tures and thrilling experiences, these captivating tales are modest 
to a fault. He seems to take as much delight in telling of the shots he 



MOtrjJTAIN WOLF. 


missed as of those which reached the mark. He never boasts, and while 
he must have participated in many adventures on the frontier, those 
which might suggest any display of heroism on his part are either omitted 
or else lightly touched upon. 

Although Mr. Roosevelt was undoubtedly looked upon as more or 
less of a “tenderfoot” by the indigenous Westerner with whom he was 
thrown into daily contact, he asserts that he was always treated with 

95 


















96 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST. 


the utmost courtesy, whether on the roundup or in camp, and the few real 
desperadoes he met were scrupulously polite. To use his own words: 

MR. ROOSEVELT MAKES GOOD. 

“I never was shot at maliciously but once. This was on an occasion 
when I had to pass the night in a little frontier hotel where the bar¬ 
room occupied the whole floor, and was, in consequence, the place where! 
every one, drunk or sober, had to sit. My assailant was neither a’ 
cowboy nor a bona fide ‘bad man,’ but a broad-liatted ruffian of cheap 
and commonplace type, who had for the moment terrorized the other 
men in the bar-room, these being mostly sheep herders and small gran¬ 
gers. The fact that I wore glasses, together with my evident desire to 
avoid a fight, apparently gave him the impression—a. mistaken one— 
that I would not resent an injury.” 

“Beware of entrance in a quarrel; but being in, bear thyself that 
the opposer may beware of thee,” is the precept laid down by Shakes¬ 
peare. How Mr. Roosevelt bore himself on this occasion he leaves to 
the imagination, but an eye-witness to the encounter states that after a 
short but decisive tussle lie took the “bad man’s” gun away from him 
and then proceeded to give him a practical illustration of the ‘ ‘ strenuous 
life,” by kicking him unceremoniously from the room. To say that this 
act made him popular with the cowboys would be putting it mildly. To 
use a familiar Western expression, Mr. Roosevelt “made good.” 

HE DANCED DOWN THE MIDDLE. 

The following incident will serve to explain in a measure his popu¬ 
larity with his companions of the plains. In one of his books he 
tells of a deadly affray that took place in a town not very far distant from 
his ranch. It seems that a Scotchman and a Minnesota man had be¬ 
come involved in a dispute. Both were desperadoes, and after a bitter 
quarrel the former, mounted on his broncho, rode to the door of his 
enemy’s house, “looking for trouble,” but before be could open fire was 
promptly shot down by the American. Mr. Roosevelt, in relating the 
occurrence, described how, a few days later, he opened a cowboy’s ball, 
with the wife of the victor of his contest, he himself dancing opposite the 
husband. “It was the lanciers,” says the narrator, “and he knew all 



Copyright 1909, by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

‘ IMAGINE COL. ROOSEVELT CAPTURING THIS MONSTER CROCODILE. 

This Crocodile was caught asleep on shore and its back broken by a shot from a high 
power Winchester rifle. It is being dragged back into the water where it will be devoured 
by its own kind. The Natives at the headwaters of the Nile, and along the shores of Lake 
Victoria Nyanza live in mortal terror of Crocodiles and whenever possible they kill them 
with poisoned spears. Among some of the tribes no young man is considered a real war¬ 
rior unless he has speared a Crocodile; all of the belles of the tribe worship him then 
for his courage and wish him for a husband. 








A FINE LION SHOT BY A HUNTER JUST BEFORE ROOSEVELT’S ARRIVAL. 











ROOSEVELT’S LIFE IN THE WEST, 


97 


the steps far better than I did. He could have danced a minuet very 
well with a little practice. The scene reminded one of the ball where 
Bret Harte’s heroine danced down the middle with the man who shot 
Sandy Magee.” 



AMERICAN BISON KILLED BY ROOSEVELT IN TIIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 


THE DELIGHTS OF THE CHASE. 

Mr. Roosevelt devoted much of his time to hunting among the moun¬ 
tains and on the plains, both as a pastime and to procure hides, n\eat, 
and robes for use on the ranch; and it was his good luck to kill all the 
various kinds of large game that can properly he considered as belong¬ 
ing to temperate North America. What a stirring description of the 
delights of the chase, which he calls the best of all national pastimes, is 
to be found in the following taken from his book, “The Wilderness 
Hunter”: 















































98 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST. 


“No one but he who has partaken thereof can understand the keen 
delight of hunting in lonely lands. For his is the joy of the horse well 
ridden and the rifle well held; for him the long days of toil and hardship, 
resolutely endured, and crowned at the end with triumph. In after years 
prairies shimmering in the bright sun; of vast snow-clad wastes lying 
desolate under gray skies; of the melancholy marshes; of the rush of 
mighty rivers; of the breath of ice-armored pines at the touch of the 
winds of winter; of cataracts roaring between hoary mountain masses; 
of all the innumerable sights and sounds of the wilderness; of its im¬ 
mensity and mystery; and of the silences that brood in its still depths.** 

A BUFFALO HUNT. 

On one of his first hunting trips, some twenty years ago, Mr. Roose¬ 
velt decided to go on a buffalo hunt. Leaving camp early in the morning, 
he set out with one companion across a tract of the Bad Lands, and late 
in the afternoon came across three male buffalo. After picketing their 
ponies the two men began to creep on hands and knees toward the 
animals, and at length succeeded in getting within shooting distance. 
This was the first time Mr. Roosevelt had ever shot at a buffalo and, 
deceived by the size and shape of the animal, he made the mistake of 
aiming too far back, with the result that, although he hit the beast, he 
only succeeded in wounding him, and to his chagrin the three animals 
disappeared in a cloud of dust. Mounting their horses, they dashed after 
the fleeing buffalo, and for several miles rode at a rapid gait and soon had 
the satisfaction of seeing the three stop and begin to graze As the two 
men galloped toward them they again dashed away. The ponies they had 
been riding were completely jaded, but they finally succeeded in getting 
within a few yard** of the wounded buffalo. Meanwhile the moon had 
risen, and, what with the uncertain light and the rough ground over 
which they were riding, it was almost impossible to get a good shot. 
Nevertheless, the future President of the United States fired, and, to 
his disappointment, missed. He not only missed, but to his surprise, the 
infuriated animal, with a loud bellow, charged him with lowered horns. 
His pony bolted and the rifle was knocked against his forehead, cutting a 
terrible gash. The buffalo then turned his attention to Mr. Roosevelt's 
companion, who made off on his tired horse, shooting at the pursuing ani- 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST. 


99 


mal as lie went. None of the shots produced any effect, however, and 
wearying of the sport, the buffalo disappeared in the darkness and they 
saw him no more. 

Several days later he was more successful. Shortly after noon, as 
the two hunters were entering a ravine, their ponies suddenly threw up 
their heads and sniffed the air. 

KILLS A BISON’. 

‘ ‘ Feeling- sure that they had smelt some wild beast, ’ ’ says the hero of 
the adventure, * ‘ I slipped off my pony and ran quickly, but cautiously, 
up along the valley. Before I had gone a hundred yards I noticed in 
the soft soil, at the bottom, the round prints of a bison’s hoofs; and im¬ 
mediately afterwards got a glimpse of the animal himself, as he fed 
slowly up the course of the ravine, some distance ahead of me. The 
wind was just right, and no ground could have been better for stalking. 
Hardly needing to bend down, I walked up behind a small sharp-crested 
hillock, and peeping over, there below me, not fifty yards off, was a great 
bison bull. He was walking along, gracing as he walked. His glossy 
fall coat was in fine trim, and shone in the rays of the sun; while his pride 
of bearing showed him to be in the lusty vigor of his prime. As I rose 
above the crest of the hill, he held up his head and cocked his tail in the 
air. Before he could go off I put a bullet in behind his shoulder. The 
wound was an almost immediately fatal one, yet with surprising agility 
for so large and heavy an animal, he bounded up the opposite side of 
the ravine, heedless of two more balls, both of which went into his 
flank and ranged forward, and disappeared over the ridge at a lumbering 
gallop, the blood pouring from his mouth and nostrils. 

“We knew he could not go far, and trotted leisurely along on his 
bloody trail; and in the next gully we found him stark dead, lying almost 
on his back, having pitched over the side when he tried to go down it. ’ ’ 

A LONG SHOT. 

Upon one occasion, while sitting on his veranda, he heard a splash¬ 
ing sound in the river some distance away, and glancing in that direction 
saw three deer, which had emerged from the thicket of the trees on the 
opposite bank, slaking their thirst in the stream. Entering the house 


100 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST . 


he picked up his rifle and, using the pillar of the porch as a rest, fired 
at the largest of the animals, a magnificent buck. It was a long shot, and 
fully 250 yards, but he brought down the deer. The best shot he ever 
made, and, as he apologetically puts it, just such a shot as any one oc¬ 
casionally will make if he takes a good many chances and fires often at 
ranges where the odds are greatly against his hitting, was at a black¬ 
tailed deer. Coming across three of these animals, when about 200 yards 
distant he fired, but missed, the bullet striking low. Holding his rifle 
high he made a second shot, above and ahead of them, which only suc¬ 
ceeded in turning the deer, which quickly vanished behind the shelter 
of a bluff. Elevating the sight of the gun to 400 yards, he waited for 
them to reappear, and had the satisfaction, a few minutes later, of see¬ 
ing one of them standing broadside toward him. As he was about to fire, 
another deer appeared, and, thinking it would be a good plan to have as 
large a mark as possible to shoot at, he waited and when the second 
animal came to a stop abreast of the first, he aimed carefully and fired. 
The next instant, to his surprise, he observed the two deer struggling 
upon the ground, and hurrying to the spot, discovered that the bullet 
had broken their backs. Measuring the distance from where the animals 
lay to the point where he had stood when firing the shot, to his wonder and 
delight he found that it was over 400 yards. 

AN EXCITING ELK HUNT. 

In 1891, Mr. Roosevelt made an elk hunt in northwestern Wyoming 
among the Shoshone Mountains, and his description of the trip makes the 
reader tingle with excitement as he follows every step of the chase from 
the moment the call of the bull elk echoes through the woodland until 
the proud giant of the forest falls beneath the unerring shot of the hunter. 

“It was very exciting,” says Mr. Roosevelt in telling of one adven¬ 
ture, “as we crept toward the great bull, and the challenge sounded 
nearer and nearer. While we were still at some distance the pealing 
notes were like those of a bugle, delivered in two bars, first rising, then 
abruptly falling; as we drew nearer they took on a harsh, squealing 
sound. Each call made our veins thrill; it sounded like the cry of some 
huge beast of prey. At last we heard the roar of the challenge not 
eighty yards off. Stealing forward three or four yards, I saw the tips 


101 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST. 

of the horns through a mass of dead timber and young growth, and I 
slipped to one side to get a clean shot. Seeing us, but not making out 
what we were, and full of fierce and insolent excitement, the wapiti bull 
stepped boldly toward us with a stately swinging gait. Then he stood mo¬ 
tionless, facing us, barely fifty yards away, his handsome twelve-tined 
antlers tossed aloft; as he held his head with the lordly grace of his kind, 
I fired into his chest, and as he turned I raced forward and shot him in 
the flank; but the second bullet was not needed, for the first wound was 
mortal, and he fell before going fifty yards. 

‘ ‘ The dead elk lay among the young evergreens. The huge, shapely 
body was set on legs that were as strong as steel rods, and yet slender, 
clean and smooth; they were in color a beautiful dark brown, contrasting 
well with the yellowish hue of the body. The neck and throat were gar¬ 
nished with a mane of long hair; the symmetry of the great horns set 
off the fine, delicate lines of the noble head. ’ ’ 

EASY TO SHOOT STRAIGHT IF YOU ARE CLOSE. 

Speaking of shooting dangerous game, Mr. Roosevelt believes that 
steadiness is more needed than good shooting; that no game is dangerous 
unless a man is close up, and if a man is close it is easy enough for him to 
shoot straight, if he does not lose his head. In recounting several ex¬ 
citing episodes in connection with the hunting of grizzlies, he utters this 
characteristic maxim: “A bear’s brain is about the size of a pint bottle, 
and any one can hit a pint bottle offhand at thirty or forty feet. I have 
had two shots at bears at close quarters, and each time I fired into the 
brain, the bullet going in between the eye and ear. A novice at this kind 
of sport will find it best and safest to keep in mind the old Norse viking’s 
advice in reference to a long sword: ‘If you go in close enough your 
sword will be long enough.’ If a poor shot goes in close enough you will 
find that he shoots straight enough. ’ ’ Once he came into contact with far 
more dangerous game than grizzlies—Indians—and it was his steadiness 
that brought him out of the encounter unscathed—but we will let him tell 
the story hims 

‘ ‘ One morning I had been traveling along the edge of the prairie, and 
about noon I rode Manitou up a slight rise and came out on a plateau 


102 


ROOSEVELT’S LIFE IN THE WEST. 



THE MOUNTAIN LION CORKING FUN 



from the Minneapolis Journal 

boosevelt’s strenuous life in the west. 








































































ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST . 


103 


that was perhaps half a mile broad. When near the middle, four or 
five Indians suddenly came up over the edge, directly in front of me. 

AN INDIAN CHARGE. 

‘ ‘ The second they saw me they whipped their guns out of their slings, 
started their horses into a run, and came on at full tilt, whooping and 
brandishing their weapons. I instantly reined up and dismounted. The 
level plain where we were was of all places the one on which such an on¬ 
slaught could best be met. In any broken country, or where there is much 
cover, a white man is at a great disadvantage if pitted against such 
adepts in the art of hiding as Indians; while, on the other hand, the 
latter will rarely rush in on a foe who, even if overpowered in the end, 
will probably inflict severe loss on his assailants. The fury of an In¬ 
dian charge, and the whoops by which it is accompanied, often scare 
horses so as to stampede them; but in Manitou I had perfect trust, and 
the old fellow stood as steady as a rock, merely cocking his ears and look¬ 
ing round at the noise. I waited until the Indians were a hundred yards 
off, and then threw up my rifle and drew a bead on the foremost. The 
effect was like magic. 

SCATTERED LIKE DUCKS. 

“The whole party scattered out as wild pigeons or teal ducks some¬ 
times do when shot at, and doubled back on their tracks, the men bending 
over alongside their horses. When some distance off they halted and 
gathered together to consult, and after a minute one came forward alone, 
ostentatiously dropping his rifle and waving a blanket over his head. 
When he came to within fifty yards I stopped him, and he pulled out a 
piece of paper—all Indians, when absent from their reservations, are 
supposed to carry passes—and called out, ‘How! Me good Indian.’ I 
answered, ‘How,’ and assured him most sincerely I was very glad he was 
a good Indian, but I would not let him come closer; and when his com¬ 
panions began to draw near, I covered him with the rifle and made him 
move off, which he did with a sudden lapse into the most canonical 
Anglo-Saxon profanity. I then started to lead my horse out to the 
prairie; and after hovering round a short time they rode off, while I fol¬ 
lowed suit, but in the opposite direction. It had all passed too quickly 


104 


ROOSEVELTS LIFE IN THE WEST. 


for me to have time to get frightened; but during the rest of my ride I was 
exceedingly uneasy, and pushed tough, speedy old Manitou along at a 
rapid rate, keeping well out on the level. However, I never saw the 
Indians again. They may not have intended any mischief beyond giving 
me a fright; but I did not dare to let them come to close quarters, for they 
would have probably taken my horse and rifle, and not impossibly my 
scalp as well.” 

THE ROUGH RIDER. 

9 

But there is something more interesting in Mr. Roosevelt’s books than 
his wonderful stories of the chase. From them the reader will obtain a 
correct idea of the West as it was twenty years ago and as it is today. 
In his work entitled “Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail,” from which 
the foregoing extract is taken, one is brought face to face with the West¬ 
ern cattle country—the excitement and danger of “riding herd,” the 
mysteries of the round-up, the terrors of “broncho busting,” and all the 
interesting details that go to make up the life of a cowboy or ranch¬ 
man. In one of the most interesting chapters in the book, Mr. Roosevelt 
pays the following tribute to the wild rough rider of the plains: ‘ ‘ Brave, 
hospitable, hardy and adventurous, he is the grim pioneer of our land; 
he prepares the way for the civilization from before whose face he must 
himself disappear. Hard and dangerous though his existence, it has yet 
a wild attraction which plainly draws to it his bold, free spirit. ’ 9 

This close familiarity with the rough life of these hardy sons of 
the Western Wilds explains to a certain extent the unexampled enthus¬ 
iasm wherewith Roosevelt was greeted when during the last Presiden¬ 
tial campiagn he traveled from 10,000 to 15,000 miles through the West¬ 
ern States and Territories where he spent so many years of his early 
youth, for everywhere he was greeted as a friend and an old acquaint¬ 
ance. It also explains how he could stand making from ten to twenty 
vigorous campaign speeches a day, visiting over two hundred towns 
and cities and keeping up the strain for eight consecutive weeks—for 
among the cowboys and ranchmen of the Western plains did he lay the 
foundation of the unexampled physical vigor that has served him so 
well during his strenuous life. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

NATIVES OF AFRICA 


What Specimens of Humanity Roosevelt Met in Africa—Black and White—Arabs, Negroes 
and Other Races—Hottentots and Bushmen—Speke’s and Burton’s Discoveries. 

W HEN Roosevelt threw himself into the midst of the Dark Con¬ 
tinent he found himself among a variety of races entirely dif¬ 
ferent from all the many nationalities he had governed in his 
own native land. Most advanced in civilization are the Arabs, who 
belong to the Semitic stock, and form the main portion of the population 
of Egypt, Algeria, Tunis and part of Abyssinia, but owing to their com¬ 
mercial instincts are found in smaller or larger settlements all over the 



AFRICAN KRAALS OR ROUND HUTS. 


105 







































































106 


NATIVES OF AFRICA 


country. The black races are represented in northern, eastern and central 
Africa and in Soudan, while in southern Africa we find Negroes, Kaffirs, 
Bechuanas, Suahelis, and other dark-hued races. To the southwest of 
these are the Hottentots and the Bushmen, while Madagascar is in- 



SAVAGES BURNING VILLAGES AS THEY TRAVEL. 


habited by a Malayan stock, the Nile countries by the Nubians and the 
Niger valleys by the Tulahs. 

The following incident from the famous expedition undertaken by R. 
F. Burton and J. H. Speke, two captains in the British army, through 
the same territory now traversed by Roosevelt give a vivid idea of the 
habits and nature of the natives. Says Captain Burton: 

“On the wayside appeared for the first time the Khambi, or sub¬ 
stantial kraals, which give evidence of unsafe traveling and of the un- 









































NATIVES OF AFRICA . 


107 



willingness of caravans to bivouac in the villages. In this country they 
assumed the form of round huts, and long sheds or booths of straw or 
grass supported by a framework of rough sticks firmly planted in the 
ground and lashed together with bark strips. The whole was sur¬ 
rounded with a deep circle of thorns, which—the entrance or entrances 
being carefully closed at night-fall, not to re-open until dawn—formed 
a complete defense against bare feet and naked legs.” 


TRAINING BOYS TO FIGHT. 

The tribe through whose territory they first passed was the Waza- 
ramo, a people that dress their hair by means of a pomatum of clay, 
moistened with castor oil. When this preparation is nearly dry, the 
hair is pulled out into numerous wiry twists, which point in all direc¬ 
tions. They levy heavy taxes upon all the merchants and others who 
pass through the territory of their tribe, which amount to positive 
plunder. Their nearness to the coast, has changed them in many 
































108 


NATIVES OF AFRICA 


respects, from their natural state; they wore more clothes than are the 
fashion among most of the tribes of Africa; while their houses are 
superior, in point of “modern conveniences,” to the huts of their neigh¬ 
bors. 

The travelers arrived at the foot of the mountain near the end of 
July. They both suffered much from malaria, common to the coast 
and were so ill that they could scarcely sit up as they rode. On the way 
up the mountains they saw many skeletons of those who had perished 



NATIVES IN THEIR CANOES ON THE TANGANYIKA LAKE, 


on the road, the bones picked clean by the birds of prey. As they as¬ 
cended, the purer air of the mountains banished their malaria, and they 
recovered, to some degree, from their wasting fevers. 

As they traversed a plain between two ranges of mountains, they 
came upon a sight which spoke more eloquently than anything else 
could (where human figures were lacking) of the horrors of one great 
African traffic. A village was completely destroyed, the houses bat¬ 
tered or burned down, and every evidence of human habitation defaced. 
There were many signs of struggling, such as the earth and neighbor¬ 
ing trees could tell; though there was no blood. The village had been 

























NATIVES OF AFRICA 


109 


attacked by slavers, and the inhabitants carried off. Two negroes 
lurked in the neighboring jungle, but when the travelers would have 
invited them to closer quarters, fled in terror. Both Burton and Speke 
felt the tragedy of which they beheld the scene; but not so their native 
attendants. To them it was a mere matter of course; they spent the 
night in singing and dancing, and helping themselves to whatever they 
could find in the ruins. 



AFRICAN BOYS PLAYING GAMES. 


The climate of the country through which they were now passing is 
described as “a furnace by day and a refrigerator by night.” They 
reached “Windy Pass,” at the foot of the third range of the Usagara 
mountains, early in September. In spite of all that they had had to 
endure from the heat of the sun and the lack of water, the most difficult 
part of the journey was still to some. From their camp in the valley, 
the explorers could see the almost perpendicular face of the mountain, 












































110 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


and wonder how they, weak and sick (for they were again troubled with 
ague) could ascend it. But they did not despair. The asses stumbled at 
almost every step, while the men were endeavoring to mount a precipice 
where almost every foot dislodged a rolling stone. The ascent required 
six hours; and Captain Speke suffered so severely from it that two days 
of violent delirium intervened before he was able to continue the journey, 
even in a hammock. 

Through countries where each tribe seemed more intent on pander 
(they called it presents to the chief) than the last had been, the travelers 
came at length to Ulnyamwezi, the Land of the Moon. Their approach to 
Tura Nullah, the first town of this country, created a sensation—literally 
‘ ‘ astonished the natives: ’’ 

“We reached a large expanse of pillar-stones, where the van had 
halted, in order that the caravan might make its first appearance with 
dignity. Then ensued a clearing, studded with large stockaded villages, 
peering over tall hedges of dark-green milk-bush, fields of maize and 
millet, manioc, gourds, and water-melons, and showing numerous flocks 
and herds, clustering around the shallow pits. The people swarmed 
from their abodes, young and old hustling one another for a better stare, 
the man forsook his loom and the girl her hoe, and for the remainder 
of the march we were escorted by a tail of screaming boys and shouting 
adults; the males almost nude, the women bare to the waist, and clothed 
only knee-deep in kilts, accompanied us, puffing pipes the while, striking 
their hoes with stones, crying ‘beads, beads!’ and ejaculating their 
wonder in strident expressions of ‘Hi! hi!’ and ‘Hiu! ill!’ and ‘Ha! 
a!a!’ ” 

The porters took possession of a considerable assemblage of vacant 
huts, and the two white men were assigned to a wall-less roof, bounded on 
one side by the village palisade. Here the mob came to behold the 
strangers, and from morning till night there was no cessation of their 
staring; when one had gazed his fill, another at once took his place. 

From this point onward, we find the progress of the party even less 
rapid than it had been heretofore; so greatly were they delayed by sick¬ 
ness. Before they had passed into the country which lies nearest to 
Lake Tanganyika, they were obliged to dismiss those servants who had 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


Ill 


been hired for a term of six months; and it was nearly seven months after 
their departure that they resumed their march without these persons. It 
was to occupy almost two months, before they came upon the lake which 
it was their intention to explore. We quote again from Burton: 

“On the 13th of February we resumed our travel through screens of 
lofty grass, which thinned out into a straggling forest. After about an 
hour’s march, as we entered a small savannah, I saw the fundi running 



AFRICANS DEFORMING THEMSELVES FOR STYLE. 


forward and changing the direction of the caravan. Without supposing 
that he had taken upon himself this responsibility, I followed him. Pres¬ 
ently he breasted a steep and stony hill, sparsely clad with thorny trees. 
Arrived with toil, for our fagged beasts now refused to proceed, we 
halted for a few minutes upon the summit. ‘What is that streak of 
light which lies below?’ I inquired of Seedy Bombay. ‘I am of opinion,’ 
quoth Bombay, ‘that that is the water.’ I gazed in dismay; the remains 
of mv blindness, the veil of trees, and a broad ray of sunshine illuminot- 
ing but one reach of the lake bend, shrunk its fair proportions. Some¬ 
what prematurely, I began to lament my folly in having risked life and 


















112 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


lost breath for so poor a prize, to curse Arab exaggeration, and to propose 
an immediate return, with the view of exploring Nyanza, a northern lake. 
Advancing, however, a few yards, the whole scene burst upon my view, 
filling me with admiration, wonder and delight. 

“Nothing could be more picturesque than this first view of the 
Tanganyika lake, as it lay in the lap of the mountains, basking in the 
gorgeous tropical sunshine. Below and beyond a short foreground of 
rugged and precipitous liill-fold, down which the foot-path zig-zags pain¬ 
fully, a narrow strip of emerald green, never sere, and marvelously fer¬ 
tile, shelves toward a ribbon of glistening yellow sand, here bordered by 
sedgy rushes, there cleanly and clearly cut by the breaking wavelets. 
Farther in front stretch the waters—an expanse of the lightest and 
softest blue—in breadth varying from thirty to thirty-five miles, and 
sprinkled by the crisp east wind with tiny crescents of snowy foam. The 
background in front is a high and broken wall of steel-colored mourb- 
tain, here flecked and capped with pearly mist, there standing sharply 
penciled against the azure air; its yawning chasms, marked by a deeper 
plum-color, fall toward dwarf hills of mound-like proportions, which 
apparently dip their feet in the wave. To the south, and opposite the 
long low point behind which the Malagarazi river discharges the red loam 
suspended in its violent stream, lie the bluff headlands and capes of 
Aguhha, and as the eye dilates, it falls upon a cluster of out-lying islets 
specking a sea-horizon. Villages, cultivated lands, the frequent canoes 
of the fishermen on the waters, and on a nearer approach, the murmurs 
of the waves breaking upon the shore, give something of a variety of 
movement, of life to the landscape, which, like all the fairest prospects in 
these regions, wants but a little of the neatness and finish of art- 
mosques and kiosks, palaces and villas, gardens and orchards—con¬ 
trasting with the profuse lavishness and magnificence of nature, and 
diversifying the coup d’oeil unbroken of excessive vegetation, to rival, 
if not to excel, the most admired scenery of the classic regions, the riant 
shores of this vast crevasse appeared doubly beautiful to me after the 
silent and spectral mangrove creeks on the East African sea-board, 
and the melancholy, monotonous experience of desert and jungle scenery, 



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COL. ROOSEVELT IN THE HUNTER’S PARADISE. 

Arrival at Kapiti Plains, a station near the ranch of Sir Alfred Pease 








NATIVES OF AFRICA 


113 


tawny rock and snn-parclied plain, or rank herbage and flats of black 
mire. Truly it was a revel for soul and sight. ’ ’ 

Proceeding at once to Kawele, which may be considered as the port 
of Ujiji, the explorers endeavored to procure a boat for the navigation 
of the lake; but this was no easy matter. Despairing of procuring a 
vessel at Kawele, Captain Speke went in a canoe, with twenty men, to 
Ukaranga, for the purpose of hiring a dhow from the Arab merchant 
there who was the possessor of the sole vessel of this kind upon the 



NATIVES BEFUSE TO PBOCEED. 


lake. The Arab detained him there by evasive*answers for several days, 
and at last agreed to let him have it at the end of three months. 

The natives had told them of a river by means of which the waters 
of the lake were emptied—a great river, flowing toward the west; and 
their eager interest was too thoroughly aroused to permit them to wait 
all this time inactive. They hired two canoes for an exorbitant sum, one 
sixty feet by four, the other about forty feet long. In such vessels, 
they proposed to navigate the lake which they believed to be the recipient 


























































114 


NATIVES OF AFRICA . 


and absorbent of the entire river system—the heart from which the great 
rivers, like arteries, drew their floods, and to which the vein-like smaller 
streams brought their constant contributions. For fifteen days they kept 
onward; nine days they remained at the point so reached, Uvira, and in 
nine days more they returned to their starting-place. Of the difficulties 
of the journey, Captain Burton says: 

“The boating was rather a severe trial. We had no means of rest¬ 
ing the back; the holds of the canoes, besides being knee-deep in water, 
were disgracefully crowded. They had been appropriated to us and our 
four servants by Kannena, but by degrees he introduced, in addition to 
the stores, spars, broken vases, pots and gourds, a goat, two or three 
small boys, one or two sick sailors, the little slave girl, and the large 
sheep. The canoes were top-heavy with the number of their crew, and 
the shipping of many seas spoiled our tents, and, besides, wetted our 
salt and soddened our grain and flour; the gunpowder was damaged, and 
the guns were honeycombed with rust. Besides the splashing of the 
paddles and the dashing of the waves, heavy showers fell almost every 
day and night, and the intervals were bursts of burning sunshine.” 

It should be remembered, in explanation of what is said above of the 
leaking of the canoes, that these vessels are hollowed out of logs, which 
soon shrink and crack; for want of caulking, they become leaky at once; 
and it is a regular part of the proceedings during any trip by water to bale 
out the boats. Narrow seats are placed across the vessel, and on each 
of these sit two men, managing the clumsy paddles which are their sub¬ 
stitutes for the oars. A clear space in the middle about six feet long 
constitutes the hold in which, according to Captain Burton’s account, 
so many and such various articles were stowed away. Nor was this all; 
from morning till night, or as long as they were engaged in paddling, 
the men whom they had hired for this work kept up a long, monotonous 
howl, varied by yells and shouts, and accompanied by the bray of horns, 
tomtoms, shamms, and whatever other instruments of noise are known to 
them; so that it was simply impossible to make calculations, to take 
observations, or do anything else to further the scientific objects of the 
expedition. Superstition forbade the boatmen to tolerate any ques¬ 
tions, or to permit the lead to be hove; nor could the captain who had been 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


115 


engaged to control them dissuade them from stopping where they pleased, 
or from going on from a point where they did not wish to stop. 

As above stated, they proceeded only fifteen days’ journey along the 
shores of the lake; the reasons why they did not go any farther was that 
the captain and sailors refused to do so, although they had been hired, 
for the whole trip. Persuasions were useless, and so were threats; they 



TYPES OF DIFFERENT AFRICAN RACES. 


had made up their minds that they would go no farther, and the English¬ 
men who had suffered so much in the journey thither were compelled to 
turn back by the whim of a set of ignorant savages. 

Burton and Speke remained at Ujiji for three months and a half; 
and being unable to accomplish anything more, set out on their re¬ 
turn journey as soon as a caravan with the needful supplies had reached 



116 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


the lake. Their departure was taken May 26, 1858; and nearly a month 
later, they arrived at Kazeh, two hundred and sixty-five miles distant. 
Here it was determined that they should separate for a time; for they 
were desirous of exploring a great lake, which the natives told them, lay 
some fifteen or sixteen marches toward the north. This, of course, was 
no other than the Victoria Nyanza, as it was named by its discoverer. 
Hitherto, Tanganyika and the Nyanzas, judged by the native accounts 
which had reached European ears, had been confused, just as at an earlier 
date, the Niger and Congo had been confused. Both Burton and 
Speke now, however, grasped the situation; all discrepancies were ex¬ 
plained, if this hitherto unknown basin should be proved to have an 
actual existence. Captain Burton was so reduced by fever that he was 
compelled to forego the enterprise, and Captain Speke accordingly left 
him at Kazeli, and pressed forward without a white companion. 

After a journey of twenty days, he saw, on the 30th of July, 1858, 
the vast inland sea stretching before him. It was the long-sought source 
of the Nile, he believed; and to the lake which no white man had ever 
before looked upon, he gave its native name, coupled with that of the 
sovereign to whose service he was sworn—the Victoria Nyanza. 

Returning in all haste, he reached his companion on the 25th of Au¬ 
gust, and they together set out for Zanzibar; whence they set sail, arriv¬ 
ing in England February 9,1859. 

The two explorers were received with much enthusiasm by the Royal 
Geographical Society, and presented each with a gold medal, as a reward 
(or rather recognition) of their services. In Captain Burton’s response 
to the speech of Sir Roderick Murchison, the President of the Society, we 
find the summing up of what part each had taken in the expedition: 

“You have alluded, sir, to the success of the last expedition. Justice 
compels me to state the circumstances under which it attained that 
success. To Captain Speke are due those geographical results to which 
you have alluded in such flattering terms. While I undertook the history 
and ethnography, the languages and peculiarity of the people, to Captain 
Speke fell the arduous task of delineating an exact topography, and of 
laying down our positions by astronomical observations—a labor to 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


117 


which, at times, even the undaunted Livingstone found himself un¬ 
equal.’’ 

Captain Burton’s health had been so seriously affected by the African 
climate, and by the hardships endured on this journey, that he felt him¬ 
self unequal, for the time at least, to farther efforts of this nature. Cap¬ 
tain Speke, however, was ready to undertake the venture; and he says 
that this expedition “may be said to have commenced on the 9th of 
May, 1859, the first day after my return to England from my second 
expedition, when, at the invitation of Sir R. I. Murchison, I called at his 
house to show him my map for the information of the Royal Geographical 
Society. Sir Roderick, I need only say, at once accepted my views; and 
knowing my ardent desire to prove to the world, by actual inspection of 
the exit, that the Victoria Nyanza was the source of the Nile, seized the 
enlightened view that such a discovery should not be lost to the glory of 
England and the society of which he was president; and said to me: 
“Speke, we must send you there again.” 

The expedition, thus informally projected, was afterward discussed 
in good earnest; Captain Speke requesting that five thousand pounds 
be given him for the purpose. The Society thought his demand too large, 
however, and he finally accepted half the sum named, saying that he would 
pay from his own pocket whatever else was needed. It was his plan to 
send forward a quantity of supplies by caravans, to be lodged in certain 
towns awaiting his arrival; so that he should not have to travel through 
a thievish country with such great stores; but this intention, owing to the 
delays which “red tapeism” interposed, could not be wholly carried out. 

Captain Grant, an old friend and fellow-sportsman, hearing of the 
projected expedition, requested to be allowed to accompany it; and he 
was formally detailed as Captain Speke’s companion. The route by 
which they were to go was at first a matter of some doubt. Many per¬ 
sons said, if they wished to find the source of the Nile, the natural plan 
would be for them to ascend the river until they came to the head-waters; 
but Captain Speke urged against this that several travelers had tried 
it, and from some unexplained reason had failed; he preferred to pro¬ 
ceed to Zanzibar, thence strike across the country, and, having reached 
the lake, explore its coasts until he came to the stream issuing from it 


118 


NATIVES OF AFRICA 


which might be supposed to he the Nile, and descend that far enough to 
verify his conclusions. The nature of the return journey would have to 
be determined by the circumstances then encountered. 



TWO-HOBNED RHINOCEBOS. 


October 2,1860, the march inland from Zanzibar began. The caravan 
consisted of about two hundred persons; but eleven deserted before start¬ 
ing. Go they must, however, because one desertion would be sure to lead 

























NATIVES OF AFRICA . 


119 


to another; and go they did. The route as far as Zungemero was the 
same as that traversed on the previous expedition, and was followed 
without special incident until they reached the last district in Ugogo, 
Khoko. Near this point Captain Speke met with a hunting adventure 
which is well worth repeating. Ninety-six men of his caravan had 
deserted, and it was necessary to halt while Sheikh Said found new re¬ 
cruits, laid in provisions of grain to last them eight days in the wilder¬ 
ness, and settled for their maintenance with the chief whose hospitality 
they were then experiencing. 

“For this triple business I allowed three days, during which time, 
always eager to shoot something, either for science or the pot, I killed a 
bicornis rhinoceros, at a distance of five paces only, * * * as the beast 
stood quietly feeding in the bush; and I also shot a bitch-fox, * * * 
whose ill-omened cry often alarms the natives by forewarning them of 
danger. This was rather tame sport; but next day I had better fun. 

“Starting in the early morning, accompanied by two of Sheikh Said’s 
boys, Suliman and Faraj, each carrying a rifle, while I carried a shot¬ 
gun, we followed a foot-path to the westward in the wilderness of Mgunda 
Mkhali. There, after walking a short while in the bush, as I heard the 
grunt of a buffalo close on my left, I took ‘ Blissett ’ in hand, and walked to 
where I soon espied a large herd quietly feeding. They were quite 
unconscious of my approach, so I took a shot at a cow, and wounded her; 
then, after reloading, put a ball in a bull, and staggered him also. This 
caused great confusion among them; but, as none of the animals knew 
where the shots came from, they simply shifted about in a fidgety man¬ 
ner, allowing me to kill the first cow, and even to fire a fourth shot, which 
sickened the great bull, and induced him to walk off, leaving the herd to 
their fate, who, considerably puzzled, began moving off also. 

“I now called up the boys, and determined on following the herd down 
before either skinning the dead cow or following the bull, who, I knew, 
could not go far. Their footprints being well defined in the moist sandy 
soil, we soon found the herd again; but, as they now knew they were pur¬ 
sued, they kept moving on in short runs at a time, when occasionally gain¬ 
ing glimpses of their large dark bodies as they forced through the bush, 
I repeated my shots and struck a good number, some more and some less 


120 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


severely. This was very provoking; for all of them being stern shots 
were not likely to kill; and the jungle was so thick I could not get a front 
view of them. Presently, however, one of them with her hind leg broken 
pulled up on a white-ant hill, and tossing her horns, came down with a 
charge the instant I showed myself close to her. One crack of the rifle 
rolled her over, and gave me free scope to improve the bag, which was 
very soon done; for on following the spoors, the traces of blood led us up 
to another one as lame as the last. He then got a second bullet in the 
flank, and, after hobbling a little, evaded our sight and threw himself into 
a bush, where we no sooner arrived than he plunged headlong at us from 
his ambush, just, and only just, giving me time to present my small 40- 
gauge Lancaster. 

“It was a most ridiculous scene. Suliman by my side, with the in¬ 
stinct of a monkey, made a violent spring and swung himself by a bough 
immediately over the beast, while Faraj bolted away and left me single- 
gunned to polish him off. There was only one course to pursue; for in 
one instant more he would have been into me; so, quick as thought I fired 
the gun, and, as luck would have it, my bullet, after passing through the 
edge of one of his horns, stuck in the spine of his neck, and rolled him 
over at my feet dead as a rabbit. Now, having cut the beast’s throat to 
make him ‘hilal,’ according to the Mussulman usage, and thinking we had 
done enough if I could only return to the first wounded bull and settle him 
too, we commenced retracing our steps, and by accident came on Grant. 
He was passing by from another quarter, and became amused by the 
glowing description of my boys, who never omitted to narrate their own 
cowardice as an excellent tale. He begged us to go on in our course, while 
he would go back and send us some porters to carry home the game. 

“Now, tracking back again to the first point of attack, we followed 
the blood of the first bull, till at length I found him standing like a stuck 
pig in some bushes, looking as if he would have liked to be put out of his 
miseries. Taking compassion, I leveled my Blisset; but as bad luck 
would have it, a bough intercepted the flight of the bullet, and it went 
pinging into the air, while the big bull went off at a gallop. To follow on 
was no difficulty, the spoor was so good; and in ten minutes more, as I 
opened on a small clearance, Blissett in hand, the great beast, from a 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


121 


thicket on the opposite side, charged down like a mad bull, full of ferocity 
—as ugly an antagonist as I ever saw, for the front of his head was all 
shielded with horn. A small mound fortunately stood between us, and 
as he rounded it, I jumped to one side and let fly at his flank, but without 
the effect of stopping him; for, as quick as thought, the huge monster was 
at my feet, battling with the impalpable smoke of my gun, which for¬ 
tunately hung so thick on the ground at the height of his head that he 
could not see me, though I was so close that I might, had I been possessed 
of a hatchet, have chopped off his head. This was a predicament that 
looked very ugly, for my boys had both bolted, taking with them my guns; 
but suddenly the beast, evidently regarding the smoke as a phantom 
which could not be mastered, turned round in a bustle, to my intense 
relief, and galloped off at full speed, as if scared by some terrible appar¬ 
ition. 

“Oh what would I not then have given for a gun, the chance was such 
a good one! Still, angry as I was, I could not help laughing as the 
dastardly boys came into the clearance full of their mimicry, and joked 
over the scene they had witnessed in security, while my life was in 
jeopardy because they were too frightened to give me my gun. But now 
came the worst part of the day; for though rain was falling, I had not 
the heart to relinquish my game. Tracking on through the bush, I 
thought every minute I should come up with the brute; but his wounds 
ceased to bleed, and in the confusion of the numerous tracks which 
scored all the forest we lost our own.” 

The boys were no more reliable as guides than they had been as hunt¬ 
ing companions; for insisting that they were following the right track, 
they passed that which their own feet had really made, and wandered 
about in the pathless forest for hours. Nor was their judgment regarding 
the points of the compass to be relied upon; but after a night spent on 
the rain-soaked earth, Captain Speke could only convince them that east 
was not west by pointing to the rising sun. 

Their absence had naturally created alarm at the camp, and volleys 
had been fired throughout the night. Some echoes of these had indeed 
reached their ears, but had been confounded with rolls of distant thunder, 
of which there had also been many. 


122 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


Speke was surprised, on reaching the bounds of Unyanyembe, to find 
that changes had taken place since his previous visit; the Arabs, who 
had then been simple merchants, carrying on commerce between the 
natives and the coast, had engaged in a deadly war with the negroes, and, 
being victorious, lived as lords of the soil. The war was not yet over; 
and, in addition to its horrors, the explorers learned that a famine was 
here raging. These circumstances detained them for several months 
at Ivazeh, for it was literally impossible to procure porters for the 
transportation of their baggage. 

They improved the time by a careful study of the Wagandas. It 
should be remembered that the languages of this part of Africa agree in 
denoting, by prefixes, the variations of geographical terms. For in¬ 
stance, Uganda is the country, Waganda denotes the people inhabiting it; 
Miganda is the designation of an individual of the Waganda; and 
Iviganda is the language which he speaks. It should further be noted 
that Nyanza, more properly written N’yanza, is a general term applied to 
any great body of water, either river or lake. The earliest explorers of 
this section of the continent made the mistake of supposing it to be a 
proper name, and hence arose a confusion of ideas. 

It must not be supposed that they were wholly inactive during this 
period; they progressed somewhat, but very slowly; sickness having its 
due influence in hindering their advance, as well as the external circum¬ 
stances which have been mentioned. They entered the rich flat district 
of Mininga late in March, and took up their quarters in a hut belonging to 
Sirboko, a broken-down ivory merchant, and the greatest man of the 
district. He advised them to remain there for a time; and after con¬ 
sultation with the chief of their own followers, they resolved to accept 
the advice. 

Their host had lost all his property by the burning of a village in 
which it had been stored; and come hither, in order to avoid his creditors 
on the coast. He had engaged in agriculture, his operations being con¬ 
fined chiefly to rice, because the natives do not like it well enough to 
steal it. 

Here they had the opportunity or doing a humane act; for one of 
Sirboko’s slaves, recognizing Speke, told him that he had been in a 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


123 


fight at Ujiji, speared all over and left for dead, but then seized by the re¬ 
turning enemy and sold to the Arabs. His touching appeal could not be 
withstood, and the explorer interceded with his master to grant him 
freedom. The release was effected; the freedman was newly named Far- 
han (Joy) and duly enrolled in Speke’s service. 

The two white men frequently separated for a few days at the time, 
Captain Speke most often making short excursions into the surround¬ 
ing country, while Captain Grant remained with the caravan, recruiting 
his health, which had been much affected by the climate, and enjoying 
himself dancing with the native women. 

Late in November, 1861, they reached the palace of King Rumanika, 
situated on the shores of a beautiful lake in the bosom of the hills, to 
which the discoverers gave the name of Little Windermere. Rumanika 
received them with cordiality, and even requested that they would take 
two of his sons with them when they returned to their own country, that 
they might be taught the white men’s learning. He was the best native 
prince that they had yet encountered; and they were not a little pleased 
with his generous and eager mind. 

This king sent a messenger to Mtesa, the king of Uganda, to announce 
the approach of the party. This embassador returned January 10, 1862, 
accompanied by an escort of smartly dressed men, women, and boys, to 
conduct the white men to the capital of Uganda. Captain Grant was 
unable to travel; but leaving him to follow later on, Captain Speke set 
out the next day with this retinue. 

They crossed the equator February 7; and shortly after passing the 
line, they were met by some pages who came as messengers from Mtesa, 
to say that the king had made a vow that he would neither eat nor drink 
until the white men should have come to him. Speke says: 

“One march more, and we came in sight of the king’s kibuga, or 
palace, in the province of Bandawarogo, north latitude twenty-one min¬ 
utes, nineteen seconds, and east longitude thirty-two degrees, forty-four 
minutes, thirty seconds. It was a magnificent sight. A whole hill was 
covered with gigantic huts, such as I had never seen in Africa before. I 
wished to go up to the palace at once, but the officers said: ‘ No, that would 
be considered indecent in Uganda; you must draw up your men and fire 


124 


NATIVES OF AFRICA . 


your guns off, to let the king know that you are here; we will then show 
you your residence, and tomorrow you will doubtless be sent for, as the 
king could not now hold a levee while it is raining.’ I made the men 
fire, and then was shown into a lot of dirty huts, which, they said, were 
built expressly for the king’s visitors. The Arabs, when they came on 
their visits, always put up here, and I must do the same. At first I stuck 
out my claims as a foreign prince, whose royal blood could not stand 
such an indignity. The palace was my sphere; and unless I could get a 
hut there, I would return without seeing the king. 

“In a terrible fright at my blustering, Nyamgundu fell at my feet 
and implored me not to be hasty. * * * I gave way to this good man’s 
appeal, and cleaned my hut by firing it to the ground; for, like all the 
huts in this dog country, it was full of fleas. Once ensconced there, the 
king’s pages darted in to see me, bearing a message from their master, 
who said he was sorry the rain prevented him from holding a levee that 
day, but the next he would be delighted to see me.” 

The next day, word was duly sent that the stranger was awaited 
at court; and costuming himself for the occasion, and preparing his 
presents for presentation, Speke gave the signal that he was ready to 
proceed. * * * Arrived at the ante-reception court, he found it neces¬ 
sary to assert his dignity in no measured terms. 

“By the chief officers in waiting, who thought fit to treat us like 
Arab merchants, I was requested to sit on the ground outside in the sun 
with my servants. Now I had made up my mind never to sit on the 
ground as the natives and Arabs are obliged to do, nor to make my 
obeisance in any other manner than is customary in England, though the 
Arabs had told me that from fear they had always complied with the 
manners of the court. I felt that if I did not stand up for my social posi¬ 
tion at once, I should be treated with contempt during the remainder of 
my visit, and thus lose the vantage-ground I had assumed of appearing 
as a prince, rather than as a trader, for the purpose of better gaining 
the confidence of the king. To avert over-hastiness, however,—for my 
servants began to be alarmed as I demurred against doing as I was bid— 
I allowed five minutes to the court to give me a proper reception, saying 
if it were not conceded T would then walk away. 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


125 


“Nothing, however, was done. * * * The affair ended by my walk¬ 
ing straight away home.” 

The Waganda stood “still as posts,” unable to understand such 
temerity; Speke’s own servants were greatly troubled for their master, 
not knowing what would be the consequence of his deed. Meantime Mtesa 



THE KING WAS SEATED ON HIS TIIEONE. 


had been told of his action; and sent messengers in hot haste to beg him 
to return. Speke coolly shook his head and patted his heart, and walked 
on a little faster. Shortly after he arrived at his hut, other messengers’ 
came to say that if he would but return, he might bring with him a chair 
to sit upon—an unparalleled concession, since no one in Uganda but th 
king is allowed the dignity of such a seat. Having drank a cup of coffee 
and smoked a pipe, the angry prince (?) leisurely returned to the court of 

King Mtesa. 













126 


NATIVES OF AFRICA. 


King Mtesa was seated on his throne to receive the guest, who, on 
being told to halt and sit in the burning sun, coolly put on his hat and 
raised his umbrella. For upwards of an hour he and the king sat 
silently regarding each other; Speke mute, but Mtesa pointing and re¬ 
marking with those around him on the novelty of the visitor’s guard and 
general appearance, and even requiring to see his hat lifted, the umbrella 
opened and shut, and the guards face about and show their red cloaks— 
for such wonders had never been seen in Uganda. 

Then, inquiring by means of an interpreter if Speke had seen him, 
and receiving an affirmative reply, the chief arose and walked away, in 
what was intended to be a very majestic gait. “It was the traditional 
walk of his race, founded on the step of the lion; but the outward sweep 
of the legs intended to rejjresent the stride of this noble beast, appeared 
to me only to realize a very ludicrous kind of waddle, which made me 
ask Bombay if anything serious was the matter with the royal person.” 

Speke stayed long enough in Uganda to become thoroughly well ac¬ 
quainted with the customs of the people. Under date of March 25,1862, 
he says: 

“I have now been for some time within the court precincts, and have 
consequently had an opportunity of witnessing court customs. Among 
these, nearly every day since I have changed my residence, incredible as 
it may appear to be, I have seen one, two, or three of the wretched palace 
women led away to execution, tied by the hand, and dragged along by one 
of the body-guard, crying out, as she went to premature death, i IIai 
minangeV (Oh, my lord!) ‘KbcikkaV (My king!) l Hai n’yawoV (My 
mother!) at the top of her voice, in the utmost despair and lamentation; 
and yet there was not a soul who dared lift his hand to save any of 
them, though many might be heard privately commenting on their 
beauty.” 

On the arrival of Captain Grant, the queen-dowager, with whom Cap¬ 
tain Speke was already very well acquainted, desired that the new-comer 
should be presented to her. Speke complied with this demand, repre¬ 
senting Grant as his brother. Her majesty persistently ignored his claim 
that they were of one house, but finally gave up her attempt to extort a 
separate present from Grant. 


NATIVES OF AFRICA 


127 


For more than four months after Speke’s first arrival at the capital of 
Uganda, Mtesa had resisted every argument and inducement to permit 
him to continue his journey northward. Finally, however, he became 
intensely jealous of Rumanika, and declared that he would show his rival 
that all the supplies for Uganda need not come through his country. If 
another route were opened, these mighty strangers would come direct to 



THE VICTORIA NILE. 

him; and he therefore promised these travelers that he would furnish 
them with guides to Unyore and with boats for a voyage on the Nile. 

The promise was accepted without delay, and the king was resolutely 
held to it. Setting out from the capital, they determined to separate, 
Grant going forward with the main body of the caravan to King Kam- 
rasi’s capital, while Speke skirted the borders of the lake until he should 
come upon the Nile, flowing out of it. This latter intention was realized 
two days after their separation, July 19,1862. 

“Here at last I stood on the brink of the Nile! Most beautiful was 
the scene, nothing could surpass it. It was the very perfection of the 
effect aimed at in a highly kept park with a magnificent stream.” 











































































































A »• Jj : ra 

, itfMi 

’ ■ i .1 fill 

. 4 ^ 


$ ili 


C 





lii 




m-Mfy ) 

:< . 



!•,■ i tmiy i 





NATIVE WIZARD. 

This may be the most powerful man in his tribe, whom even the chief may fear. He 
knows too much, he knows the meanings of his bones and the secret spells by which 
disease and disaster may be hurled against the foe. He can “smell out” criminals, who 
are generally enemies of the chief or himself and who are done to death at his word. He 
deals in drugs and poisons. In some tribes only the wizard and doctor is allowed to wear 
the skins of certain animals. 















DAGGA SMOKERS. 

Group of natives smoking Indian hemp which is buried in the ground. The instrument used is either a hollow reed or, as in this 
instance, the horns of cattle. It is a pernicious habit, as the smoke produces stupefaction and sometimes delirium. 













CHAPTER IX. 

ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


Organizing the Regiment—A Composite Lot—College Athletes and Cowboys—The Officers— 
Orders to March—The Landing at Daiquiri—The First Skirmish—Death of Sergeant 
Fish and Captain Capron—The La Quassina Fight—The Baptism of Fire—San Juan 
Hill—The Surrender of Santiago—The Celebrated “Round Robin.” 

W HEN the news of Dewey’s victory reached this country, Mr. 

Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the 
Navy. “There is nothing more for me to do here,” he said, 
“I’ve got to get into the fight myself.” And again to a friend of his, “I 
have been a jingo all my life, now I am going to take my own medicine.” 
He first endeavored to get a staff appointment, but finally, when there 
began to be talk of a regiment of “rough riders,” he felt that his oppor¬ 
tunity had come. 


ROOSEVELT IS OFFERED THE COMMAND. 

While Assistant Secretary of the Navy he had met Dr. Leonard Wood, 
and a friendship had at once sprung up between them. Dr. Wood had 
previously served in General Miles ’ campaign against the Apaches, where 
he had won a medal of honor for remarkable bravery. YvTien the war 
broke out, they discovered a mutual desire to go to the front, and when 
Congress authorized the raising of three Western cavalry regiments, both 
expressed a desire to serve in the same command. Secretary Alger 
offered Roosevelt the command of one of these regiments, but he replied 
that while he believed he could learn to command a regiment in a month, 
that this was just the very month that he could not afford to spare and 
that, therefore, he would be quite content to go as lieutenant-colonel if he 
would make his friend Wood colonel. 

“This was satisfactory to both the President and Secretary of War,” 
said Mr. Roosevelt, “and accordingly Wood and I were speedily commis¬ 
sioned as colonel and lieutenant-colonel of the First United States Vol- 

129 


130 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


unteer Cavalry. This was the official title of the regiment, but for some 
reason or ether, the public promptly christened us the ‘Bough Riders.’ 
At first we fought against the use of the term, but to no purpose, and 
when finally the generals of division and brigade began to write in formal 
communications about our regiment as the ‘Rough Riders,’ we adopted 
the term ourselves.” 

DELUGED WITH APPLICATION'S. 

The mustering places for the regiment were mainly New Mexico, 
Arizona, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, and the main difficulty encoun¬ 
tered was not in selecting, but in rejecting men. From every section of 
the United States applications began to pour in, and when, finally, the 
roster was complete, as Mr. Riis has expressed it, “the Rough Riders 
were the most composite lot ever gathered under a regimental standard, 
but they were at the same time singularly typical of the spirit that con¬ 
quered a continent in three generations, eminently American. Probably 
such another will never be gotten together again; in no other country 
on earth could it have been mustered to-day. The cowboy, the Indian 
trailer, the Indian himself, the packer and the hunter who had sought and 
killed the grizzly in his mountain fastness, touched elbows with the New 
York policeman who, for love of adventure, had followed his once chief to 
the war, with the college athlete, the football player and the oarsman, 
the dare-devil mountaineer of Georgia, fresh from hunting moonshiners 
as a revenue officer, and with the society man, the child of luxury and 
wealth from the East, bent upon proving that a life of ease had dulled 
neither his manhood nor his sense of our common citizenship.” 

INVARIABLY DECLINED COMMISSIONS. 

Harvard being Mr. Roosevelt’s own college, he naturally receiyed a 
great many applications from that institution, but what particularly 
pleased him was that not only the applicants from Iris Alma Mater, but 
also the Yale and Princeton men, invariably declined commissions. And 
so it came to pass that Dudley Dean, the celebrated quarter-back; Wrenn 
and Larned, the champion tennis players; Waller, the high jumper; Gar¬ 
rison, Girard, Devereaux and Channing, the football players; Wads¬ 
worth, the steeple-chase rider; Joe Stevens, the polo player; Hamilton 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


131 


Fish, ex-captain of the Columbia crew, and others, all entered the Rough 
Riders and accepted the hard work and rough fare as though they had 
been accustomed to nothing else. There were recruits from clubs like 
the Somerset of Boston and the Knickerbocker of New York, and, as Mr. 
Roosevelt expressed it, it seemed as though every friend that he had in 
every State had some one acquaintance who was bound to go with the 
Rough Riders and for whom he had to make a place. 

NOT A MAN BACKED OUT. 

“Before allowing them to be sworn in,” says Mr. Roosevelt, “I gath¬ 
ered them together and explained that if they went in they must be 
prepared not merely to fight, but to perform the weary, monotonous labor 
incident to the ordinary routine of the soldier’s life; that they must be 
ready to face fever exactly as they were to face bullets; that they were to 
obey unquestioningly, and to do their duty as readily if called upon to 
garrison a fort as if sent to the front. I warned them that work that was 
merely irksome and disagreeable must be faced as readily as work that 
was dangerous, and that no complaint of any kind must be made; and I 
told them that they were entirely at liberty not to go, but that after they 
had once signed there could then be no backing out. Not a man of them 
backed out; not one of them failed to do his whole duty.” 

But these men formed but a small portion of the regiment, the bulk 
of which came from the Territories. Magnificent specimens of humanity, 
inured to hardship, unerring shots, ideal horsemen, accustomed to out¬ 
door life, the freedom of the frontier and the rude discipline of the 
ranch or mining camp; they were difficult men to handle, save by leaders 
who had demonstrated their ability in that direction. 

HOW THE REGIMENT WAS OFFICERED. 

Thus it was that the officers of the regiment were men who had either 
fought against the Indians, or had taken the field against the more des¬ 
perate white outlaws of the plains. The captain of Troop A was Bucky 
O’Neill, the mayor of Prescott, Arizona; then there was Captain 
Llewellyn of New Mexico, one of the most celebrated peace officers of 
the country; Lieutenant Ballard, who broke up the notorious Black Jack 


132 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


gang; Captain Curry, a New Mexican sheriff, and a sprinkling of men 
who had been sheriffs, marshals, deputy sheriffs and deputy marshals. 
Three of the higher officers in the regiment had served in the regular 
army. One was Major Alexander Brodie, from Arizona, who afterwards 

• 

became Lieutenant-Colonel; Captain, afterwards Major, Jenkins, and 
the gallant Captain Allyn Capron, whom Mr. Roosevelt considered the 
best soldier in the regiment. But whether Easterner, Westerner, 
Northerner, or Southerner, officer or man, cowboy or college graduate, 
each “ possessed in common the trait of hardihood and the thirst for ad¬ 
venture—they were to a man born adventurers in every sense of the 
word. ’ ’ 

To Wood and Roosevelt fell the task of teaching these men the duties 
of a soldier and of molding them together into a uniform body of dis¬ 
ciplined fighters, and it was owing to their patience and industry that 
when the time came for the regiment to sail for Cuba these raw recruits 
had mastered all the intricacies of foot and mounted drill and bore 
every appearance of regular troops. 

On Sunday, May 29th, the regiment broke camp at San Antomo, 
which had been the recruiting station, and took the cars for Tampa. With 
the first three sections went Colonel Wood, Colonel Roosevelt following 
with the remaining four; and several days later they arrived at Tampa. 
Here for several days the regiment worked with great perseverance in 
perfecting itself in skirmish and mounted drill. On the evening of June 
7th orders were received that the expedition was to start from Port 
Tampa, nine miles distant, at daybreak the following morning, and if 
the men were not on board their transports by that time they would not be 
allowed to go. It was not, however, until five days later that the fleet 
weighed anchor and steamed to the southwest, and on the morning of 
June 22d landed at Daiquiri, the village having first been shelled by the 
smaller gunboats. The afternoon of the following day the Rough Riders 
received orders to march. 

Just before leaving Tampa the Rough Riders had been brigaded with 
the First (white) and the Tenth (colored) Regular Cavalry under 
Brigadier-General Young, as the Second Brigade. The First Brigade 
consisted of the Third and Sixth (white) and the Ninth (colored) Regular 



ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


133 


Cavalry under Brigadier-General Sumner. These two brigades were 
under the command of General Joseph Wheeler, the celebrated Confed¬ 
erate leader. 


ON CUBAN SOIL. 

After landing at Daiquiri, the Rough Riders marched about a mile 
inland and camped. In the meantime General Lawton, who afterwards 
lost his life in the Philippines, had taken the advance and established 
outposts, and General Wheeler, who had made a reconnoisance and lo¬ 
cated the position of the enemy, directed General Young to take the Sec¬ 
ond Brigade and push forward. 

The march began about the middle of the afternoon, and about dark, 
after a weary tramp beneath a scorching tropical sun, the troops arrived 
at the town of Siboney. At sunrise the next morning, General Young, 
acting under General Wheeler’s orders, with four troops of the Tenth and 
four of the First Cavalry, began the march along the valley road 
which led to Santiago, while Colonel Wood led the Rough Riders along 
a hill trail to the left, which joined the main road about four miles farther 
on, at a point where it went over the mountain. 

THE BATTLE OF LA QUASSINA. 

This place, where the two trails met, was known as La Quassina, and 
it was at this point that the Spanish had taken up their position. The 
Spanish fortification consisted of breastworks flanked by block-houses, 
and after General Young had arrived and made a careful examination 
of the Spanish position, he placed his battery in concealment about a 
thousand yards from the Spanish line, deployed the white regulars with 
the colored regulars in support, and after he had given time for Colonel 
Wood to arrive, opened the battle. The jungle was extremely dense, and 
as the Spaniards used smokeless powder, it was almost impossible to 
locate them, but the advance was pushed forward rapidly, and in the 
face of heavy firing the American troops climbed the ridges and drove 
the Spaniards from their intrenchments. In the meantime, Colonel 
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders had commenced their advance. The 
way lay up a very steep hill, and numbers of the men, exhausted from 


134 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


their march of the day before, had either dropped their bundles or fallen 
out of line, so that less than 500 men went into action. 

MADE NO OUTCRY WHEN HIT. 

“We could hear the Hotchkiss guns and the reply of two Spanish 
guns, and the Mauser bullets were singing through the trees over our 
heads, making a noise like the humming of telephone wires, but exactly 
where they came from we could not tell,” said the Colonel of the Rough 
Riders in describing the fight. ‘ ‘ The Spaniards were firing high and for 
the most part by volleys, and their shooting was not very good. Gradu¬ 
ally, however, they began to get the range, and occasionally one of our 
men would crumple up. In no case did the men make an outcry when hit, 
seeming to take it as a matter of course; at the outside making only such 
a remark as, ‘Well, I got it that time.’ ” 

Capron’s troop took the lead, closely followed by Wood and Roose¬ 
velt at the head of the other three troops of the Third Squadron, and 
then came Brodie at the head of his squadron. After the Spaniards had 
been driven from their position on the right, the firing slackened sopie- 
what until the enemy’s outposts were located near the advance guard, 
when a brisk skirmish ensued, with the result that the enemy disappeared 
through the jungle to their main line in the rear. 

DEATH OF FISH AND CAPRON. 

“Here,” says Mr. Roosevelt, “at the very outset of our active service, 
we suffered the loss of two as gallant men as ever wore uniforms. Ser¬ 
geant Hamilton Fish, at the extreme front, while holding the point to 
its work and firing back where the Spanish advance guard lay, was shot 
and instantly killed; three of the men with him were likewise hit. Captain 
Capron, leading the advance guard in person, and displaying equal 
courage and coolness in the way that he handled them, was also struck, 
and died a few minutes afterwards. While I had led the troop back to 
the trail, I ran ahead of them, passing the dead and wounded men of 
L Troop. 

A HAIL OF BULLETS. 

“When I came to the front I found the men spread out in a very thin 
skirmish line, advancing through comparatively open ground, each man 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


135 


taking advantage of what cover he could, while Wood strode about lead¬ 
ing his horse, Brodie being close at hand. How Wood escaped being hit 
I do not see, and still less how his horse escaped. I had left mine at the 
beginning of the action, and was only regretting that I had not left my 
sword with it, as it kept getting between my legs as I was making my way 
through the jungle. Very soon after I reached the front, Brodie was hit, 
the bullet shattering one arm and whirling him round as he stood. There¬ 
upon Wood directed me to take charge of the left wing in Brodie’s place 
and bring it forward. A perfect hail of bullets w T as sweeping over us as 
we advanced. Once I got a glimpse of some Spaniards, apparently re¬ 
treating far to the front and to our right, and we fired a couple of rounds 
after them. Then I became convinced, after much anxious study, that 
we were being fired at from some large red-tiled buildings, part of a 
ranch on our front. Smokeless powder and a thin cover in our front 
continued to puzzle us, and I more than once consulted anxiously the 
officers as to the exact whereabouts of our opponents. I took a rifle from 
a wounded man and began to try shooting with it myself. It was very hot 
and the men were getting exhausted, though at this particular time we 
were not suffering heavily from bullets, the Spaniards’ fire going 
too high. 

EMPTY CARTRIDGE SHELLS AND TWO DEAD SPANIARDS. 

‘As we advanced the cover became a little thicker and I lost sight of 
the main body under Wood; soon I halted and we fired industriously at 
the ranch buildings ahead of us, some 500 yards off. Then we heard 
repeating rifles on the right, and I supposed that this meant a battle on 
the part of Wood’s men, so I sprang up and ordered the men to rush the 
buildings ahead of us; they came forward with a will. There was a 
moment of heavy firing from the Spaniards, which all went over our 
heads, and then ceased entirely. When we arrived at the buildings, 
panting and out of breath, they contained nothing but heaps of empty 
cartridge shells and two Spaniards shot through the head. ” 

THE KILLED AND WOTJNDED. 

The Rough Riders lost eight men killed and thirty-four wounded in 
the last La Quassina fight. The First Cavalry lost seven men killed and 


136 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


eight wounded. The Tenth Cavalry, one man killed and ten wounded. 
After the charge the regiment moved on a few miles and went into camp. 
The same day General Young was attacked by a fever and General Wood 
took charge of the brigade; this left Colonel Roosevelt in charge of the 
regiment. On June 30th, the Rough Riders received orders to march 
against Santiago, and at once struck camp and, led by the First and 
Tenth Cavalry, began to move toward the Spanish city. After march¬ 
ing until about eight o’clock Colonel Roosevelt’s men went into camp 
on El Paso Hill. No orders had been given except to the effect that the 
infantry under General Lawton was to capture El Caney, while Colonel 
Roosevelt’s force was merely to make a diversion mainly with the artil¬ 
lery. Finding that his force was directly in line of the Spanish fire, which 
was made very evident by shells which began to burst in their midst, 
General Wood formed his brigade and, with the Rough Riders in front, 
ordered Colonel Roosevelt to follow behind the First Brigade, which was 
just then moving off the ground. Colonel Roosevelt was then ordered to 
cross the ford of the San Juan River, march half a mile to the right and 
then halt and await further orders. Meantime the battle was on and the 
Spaniards on the hills were firing in volleys. 

the Spaniards’ fire practically unaimed. 

Colonel Roosevelt says that while his troops were lying in reserve 
they suffered nearly as much as afterwards when they charged. In his 
opinion the bulk of the Spaniards’ fire was practically unaimed, or at 
least not aimed at any particular man, and only occasionally at a par¬ 
ticular body of men; but they swept the whole field of battle up to the 
edge of the river, and man after man in his ranks fell dead or wounded, 
although he had his troops scattered far about, taking advantage of 
every scrap of cover. Finally Colonel Roosevelt received orders to move 
forward and support the regulars in the assault on the hills in front. 

HIS CROWDED HOUR BEGAN. 

“The instant I received the order,” says Colonel Roosevelt, “I sprang 
on my horse and then my crowded hour began. Guerrillas had been 
shooting at us from the hedges and from their perches in the leafy trees, 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


137 


and as they used smokeless powder it was almost impossible to see 
them, though a few of my men had from time to time responded. They 
had also moved from the hill on the right, which was held chiefly by 
guerrillas, although there were also some Spanish regulars with them, 
for we found them dead. I formed my men in columns of troops, each 
troop extended in open skirmishing order, the right resting on the wire 
fences which bore on the sunken land. The Ninth and First Regiments 
went up Kettle Hill with the Rough Riders, and General Sumner giving 
the Tenth the order to charge, the Third Regiment went forward, keep¬ 
ing up a heavy fire. ’ ’ 

Colonel Roosevelt then adressed the captain in command of the rear 
platoon, saying that he had been ordered to support the regulars in the 
attack ujDon the hills, and that in his judgment they could not take these 
hills by firing on them; that they must rush them. The officer answered 
that his orders were to keep his men lying where they were and that 
he could not charge without orders. He asked where the Colonel was, 
and as he was not in sight, Colonel Roosevelt said: “I am the ranking 
officer here, and I give the order to charge,” for he did not want to keep 
the men longer in the open, suffering under a fire that they could not 
return. The officer again hesitated, but Colonel Roosevelt rode on 
through the lines, followed by his Rough Riders. This proved too much 
for the regulars, and they followed after. 

GAVE THE ORDER TO CHARGE. 

When the Rough Riders came to where the head of the left wing of 
the Ninth was lying, Colonel Roosevelt gave the order to charge the hill 
on his right front, and the line, tired of waiting, obeyed the command 
with alacrity at once. Immediately after the hill was covered by Ameri¬ 
can troops, consisting of Rough Riders and the colored troops of the 
Ninth, together with some men of the First; but no sooner had they cap¬ 
tured the position than the Spaniards opened a heavy fire upon them with 
rifles, while several pieces of artillery threw shells with considerable 
effect into their midst. From this vantage ground Colonel Roosevelt 
could observe the charge on the San Juan block-house on his left, and he 
decided to gather his men together and start them volley-firing against 
the Spaniards in the block-house and in the trenches around it. 


138 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


“The infantry got nearer and nearer the crest of the hill,” says Mr. 
Roosevelt, in his account of the battle. “At last we could see the Span¬ 
iards running from the rifle-pits as the Americans came on in their final 
rush. Then I stopped my men for fear they should injure their comrades, 
and called to them to charge the next line of trenches, on the hills in our 
front, from which we had been undergoing a good deal of punishment. 
Thinking that the men would all come, I jumped over the wire fence in 
front of us and started at the double; but, as a matter of fact, the troopers 
were so excited, what with shooting and being shot, and shouting and 
cheering, that they did not hear, or did not heed me; and after running 
about a hundred yards I found I had only five men along with me. 

A MISUNDERSTOOD ORDER. 

“Bullets were ripping the grass all around us, and one of the men, 
Clay Green, was mortally wounded; another, Winslow Clark, a Harvard 
man, was shot first in the leg and then through the body. He made not the 
slightest murmur, only asking me to put his water canteen where he 
could get at it, which I did; he ultimately recovered. There was no use 
going on with the remaining three men, and I bade them stay where they 
were while I went back and brought up the rest of the brigade. This was 
a decidedly cool request, for there was really no possible point in letting 
them stay there while I went back ; but at the moment it seemed perfectly 
natural to me, and apparently so to them, for they cheerfully nodded, and 
sat down in the grass, firing back at the line of trenches from which the 
Spaniards were shooting at them. 

“lead on, we ’ll follow you.” 

“Meanwhile, I ran back, jumped over the wire fence, and went over 
the crest of the hill, filled with anger against the troopers, and especially 
those of my own regiment, for not having accompanied me. They, of 
course, were quite innocent of wrong-doing, and even while I taunted 
them bitterly for 'not having followed me, it was all I could do not to 
smile at the look of inquiry and surprise that came over their faces, while 
they cried out, ‘We didn’t hear you, we didn’t see you go, Colonel; lead 
on now, we’ll sure follow you.’ I wanted the other regiments to come, 
too, so I ran down to where General Sumner was and asked him if I might 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


139 


make the charge, and he told me to go and that he would see that the men 
followed. 

“By this time everybody had his attention attracted, and when I 
leaped over the fence again, with Major Jenkins beside me, the men of the 
various regiments which were already on the hill came with a rush, and 
we started across the wide valley which lay between us and the Spanish 
intrenchments. Captain Dimmick, now in command of the Ninth, was 
bringing it forward; Captain McBlain had a number of Rough Riders 
mixed in with his troop, and led them all together; Captain Taylor had 
been severely wounded. The long-legged men like Greenway, Goodrich, 
sharpshooter Proffit, and others, outstripped the rest of us, as we had a 
considerable distance to go. Long before we got near them the Spaniards 
ran, save a few here and there, who either surrendered or were shot 
down. When we reached the trenches we found them filled with dead 
bodies in the light blue and white uniform of the Spanish regular army. 
There were very few wounded. Most of the fallen had little holes in 
their heads, from which their brains were oozing; for they were covered 
from the neck down by the trenches. 

KILLS A SPANIARD. 

“It was at this place that Major Wessels, of the Third Cavalry, was 
shot in the back of the head. It was a severe wound, but after having it 
bound up he again came to the front in command of his regiment. Among 
the men who were foremost was Lieutenant Milton E. Davis of the First 
Cavalry. He had been joined by three men of the Seventy-first New 
York, who ran up, and saluting, said, ‘Lieutenant, we want to go with 
you, our officers won’t lead us.’ One of the brave fellows was soon after¬ 
wards shot in the face. Lieutenant Davis’ first sergeant, Clarence Gould, 
killed a Spanish soldier with his revolver, just as the Spaniard was aim¬ 
ing at one of my Rough Riders. 

“At about the same time I also shot one. I was with Henry Bardshar, 
running up at the double, and two Spaniards leaped from the trenches 
and fired at us, not ten yards away. As they turned to run I closed in 
and fired twice, missing the first and killing the second. My revolver was 
from the sunken battleship Maine, and had been given me by my brother- 


140 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


in-law, Captain W. S. Cowles, of the Navy. At the time I did not know 
of Gould’s exploit, and supposed my feat to be unique; and although 
Gould had killed his Spaniard in the trenches, not very far from me, I 
never learned of it until weeks after. It is astonishing what a limited 
area of vision and experience one has in the hurly-burly of a battle. 


BLACK AND WHITE SOLDIERS MIXED. 

‘ 1 There was very great confusion at this time, the different regiments 
being completely intermingled—white regulars, colored regulars, and 
Rough Riders. General Sumner had kept a considerable force in reserve 
on Kettle Hill, under Major Jackson, of the Third Cavalry. We were still 
under a heavy fire, and I got together a mixed lot of men and pushed on 
from the trenches and ranch-houses which we had just taken, driving the 
Spaniards through a line of palm trees and over the crests of a chain 
of hills. 


OVERLOOKED SANTIAGO. 

“When we reached these crests we found ourselves overlooking San¬ 
tiago. Some of the men, including Jenkins, Greenway, and Goodrich, 
pushed on almost by themselves far ahead. Lieutenant Hugh Berkely, 
of the First, with a sergeant and two troopers, reached the extreme front. 
He was, at the time, ahead of every one; the sergeant was killed and one 
trooper wounded; but the lieutenant and the remaining trooper stuck to 
their post for the rest of the afternoon, until our line was gradually ex¬ 
tended to include them. 

“While I was re-forming the troops on the chain of hills, one of Gen¬ 
eral Sumner’s aides came up with orders to me to halt where I was, not 
advancing farther, but to hold the hill at all hazards.” 

Colonel Roosevelt says that in the attack on the San Juan hills his 
regiment lost eighty-nine killed and wounded; the loss of the entire 
American forces being 1,071 killed and wounded. “I think we suffered 
more heavily than the Spaniards did in the killed and wounded,” says 
Colonel Roosevelt. “It would have been very extraordinary if the re¬ 
verse was the case.” 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 


141 


THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. 

Every one is familiar with the events following the charge up San 
Juan Hill and preceding the capture of Santiago—the suffering in the 
crowded trenches, the hours of weary waiting and desultory fighting, in 
all of which the Rough Riders did their part with the precision of regu¬ 
lars. On the 17tli of July, the city of Santiago formally surrendered, 
after which the cavalry was marched back to the foot of the hill west of 
El Caney, and there went to camp. 

Many of the Rough Riders had already been stricken down with fever, 
and in the new camp matters grew worse in a very short time. Over 50 
per cent were unfit for any kind of work; all their clothing was in rags; 
even the officers were without stockings and underwear. Yellow fever 
then broke out, but chiefly among the Cubans, and, owing to the panic 
caused by the dread of this disease, the authorities at Washington hesi¬ 
tated to order the army to return to the United States, fearing that it 
might introduce the plague into the country. General Shafter then sum¬ 
moned a council of officers, hoping by united action to induce the govern¬ 
ment to take some active step toward relieving the army at Santiago 
from destruction. 


THE CELEBRATED ROUND ROBIN. 

Finally the “Round Robin,” signed by Colonel Roosevelt and all the 
other officers, was made public. As Mr. Riis says, this celebrated com¬ 
munication “startled the American people and caused measures of in¬ 
stant relief to be set on foot, the fearful truth that the army was perish¬ 
ing from privation and fever was not known. The cry it sent up was, 
‘ Take us home. We will fight for the flag to the last man if need be. But 
now our fighting is done, we will not be left here to die.’ It was signifi¬ 
cant that the duty of making the unwelcome disclosure fell to the Colonel 
of the Rough Riders. Of all the officers who signed it he was the young¬ 
est ; but from no one could the warning have come with greater force. The 
Colonel of the Rough Riders, at the head of his men on San Juan Hill, 
much as I like the picture, is not half so heroic a figure to me as Roosevelt 
in this hour of danger and doubt, shouldering the blame for the step he 
knew to be right. 


142 


ROOSEVELT—THE ROUGH RIDER. 



From the Minneapolis Journal. 


A JUNGLE CONCERT. 
































CHAPTER X. 

A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 

Early Discoveries and Explorations—An Incredible Statement Proved True—Mohammedan 
Conquests—In the Congo Country—On the Eastern Coast—First English Expeditions— 
Ascent of the Senegal—French Explorations. 

A LTHOUGH the country through which Roosevelt undertook his 
famous hunting expedition was the seat of the earliest civilization 
known to the world, Africa has long been, above all others, the 
continent of mystery. Egypt had solved engineering problems which are 
not far within the capacity of the nineteenth century, before Greece and 
Rome had learned the rudiments of art or science; and Greece and Rome 
were the teachers of all Europe; yet every nook and corner of Europe has 
been thoroughly explored, while there are still vast wildernesses in Africa 
where the white man’s foot has never trod. Less than a century ago, even 
the great rivers had not been followed to their sources; the Nile itself 
came from a region of mystery, and no man had fathomed the secret of 
those annual overflows which had enriched Egypt since the days of the 
first Pharaohs. 

The interest in the exploration of Africa, however, the desire to know 
more of this great tract which lies so directly under the equator, is not 
altogether of modern growth. The Father of History himself, Herod¬ 
otus, who lived in the fifth century before our era, endeavored to obtain 
accurate information regarding Africa. For this purpose, he visited 
Egypt in person; but the Egyptians could not tell him much. They knew 
only a portion of the northern coast, besides their own country. The 
region nearest to them was well known, and we find full accounts of the 
temple of Jupiter Ammon and the wonderful spring in its vicinity; but as 
we follow the account of the historian, in his description of the peoples 
living farther toward the West, we find them less satisfactory. For some 
distance beyond Carthage, indeed, the character of the soil and the nature 

143 


144 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY.. 


of the inhabitants are accurately described; but soon we find fact mingled 
with fable, and at last we come to the long and lofty range of Atlas, which 
is the pillar of heaven, and beyond which the historian does not think of 
going. 

But even before the days of Herodotus, the Carthaginians, those ad¬ 
venturous mariners of antiquity, who without chart or compass had come 
even to Cornwall, had coasted beyond the Pillars of Hercules, as the 
rocks on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar were called, and traded with 
the natives. Just how far down the western coast of Africa they went, 
modern authorities have not agreed among themselves. A naval expedi¬ 
tion set out from Carthage about the year 570 B. C., under Hanno as com¬ 
mander, which passed far beyond the entrance to the Mediterranean. 
Gosselin says that they reached the point where the Sahara begins; Ren- 
nell considers that they succeeded in passing this barren coast, and fin¬ 
ished their expedition about the point where Free Town now stands; 
while Bougainville believes them to have been still more adventurous, 
and to have gone as far as Cape Three Points, which is about the middle 
of the southern coast of Guinea. This last theory has not been accepted 
by many authorities; and the question really is, did they pass the desert 
coast or not ? One answer supposes a run of six hundred miles; the other, 
a voyage five times as long. Hanno had a fleet of sixty vessels, with 
thirty thousand souls on board; it hardly seems credible that so vast a 
number could have carried with them, in the comparatively small vessels 
of the times, a sufficient stock of food and water to serve them during 
their slow and uncertain passage along the coast of Sahara; and the 
account which has come down to us distinctly tells us that they were 
forced to turn back, because of the sterile and inhospitable nature of the 
coast. 

It is not until after the destruction of Carthage that Eudoxus, a native 
of the city of Cyzicus, comes upon the scene as an African explorer; and 
there is no other, of any note, until his day. Alexandria was then the 
center of naval enterprise, and her Greek rulers the most zealous patrons 
of all undertakings of the kind. To Ptolemy Euergetes the adventurer 
appealed, and the question of exploring the Nile to its sources was seri¬ 
ously discussed. But the arrival of a native of India, whom some Alexan- 



THE HEAD OF AN EAST AFRICAN RHINOCEROS ON ITS WAY TO THE 










AFRICAN LADIES’ RECEPTION. 

The ladies love to ornament and their ideas vary as to the style which suits individual tastes and features, they eat irom o 
dish, which is the pot in which the food has been cooked. 

















A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


145 


drian sailors had rescued from shipwreck, turned their attention to India; 
and for a while the subject of African exploration was permitted to rest. 
Eudoxus made one voyage to India, and set out upon a second; but was 
driven by a storm upon the coast of Africa, shortly after emerging from 
the Red Sea. The coast line here extends toward the southwest; and 
Eudoxus was inspired with the idea that the circuit of Africa, from the 
entrance to the Red Sea to that of the Mediterranean, was to be made by 
a determined navigator. From that time forth he was possessed by one 
ambition, to be the circumnavigator of Africa. 

Whether he succeeded or not, is not clear; in the strict sense of the 
words, he did not succeed, for he did not make the whole circuit. It may 
be that he coasted along all that portion of the seaboard which had not 
been previously explored; but certainly his voyage did not extend from 
the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb to that of Gibraltar. One observation which 
he records led the geographers of antiquity to believe that he was fabling; 
it proves to us that he told the truth: he narrates that when he had passed 
a certain point on his voyage, the sun shone to the northward of his vessel. 
The ancients, unacquainted with the southern hemisphere, could not 
credit this; they believed the assertion to be on a par with his accounts of 
peoples without tongues, and of those who having no mouth, received all 
their food through the nose. To us, on the other hand, this observation 
of a phenomenon previously unknown is proof positive that he passed the 
equator. From a careful examination of his assertions, it appears prob¬ 
able that he did not accomplish his great object, even if we take the limited 
meaning of the term circumnavigation above stated; but sailed as far 
south along the eastern coast as Cape Delgado, about ten degrees south 
of the equator. 

The explorations of Eudoxus were made about the year 130 B. C.; and 
so little credence did his theory that Africa was bounded on all sides by 
the ocean obtain, that Ptolemy the geographer, who lived during the 
second century of our era, represented the Indian Ocean as an inland 
sea, bounded on the south by Africa, which extended easterly and then 
northerly until it reached the coast of China. His delineation of the 
northern coast of this continent was, in the main, correct; but he be¬ 
lieved the western coast to be nearly a straight north and south line, 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


14b 

instead of inclining nearly fifteen degrees of longitude from the Straits 
of Gibraltar to Cape Verde, as more modern surveys prove. He draws 
the eastern coast nearly correct, as far south as the equator; and for 
more than a thousand years, there was but very little more than this 
known of the Dark Continent. 

We are accustomed to consider Mohammedanism as the foe of all 
progress; but the case was different during the middle ages. When the 
faith of Islam was first firmly established, the Saracen princes became 
the patrons of art and science; and their schools became famous seats 
of learning. Their conquests had extended far to the West, and they 
had obtained a foothold even in Europe itself, in the domains of the 
most Catholic King. Across the Mediterranean, they had established 
themselves in Morocco and other Barbary States; here they early intro¬ 
duced the camel, useful to their native Arabian deserts, and soon to 
become indispensable in Africa. By the aid of the ship of the desert, 
they crossed the vast wastes which had hitherto been impassable, and 
founded states along its southern boundary; their object being mainly 
commercial, since they wished to obtain gold and slaves from the 
natives. 

Many of the names recorded by the Arabian chroniclers are retained 
in a spelling but slightly varied at the present day. Their Ghana has 
become Kano, Tocrur is Takror, and Bornou is unchanged. 

Their account of western Africa is confused and vague, showing 
that their explorations and settlements were confined to the district 
about the Niger. Of the northern part of the eastern coast, they knew 
but little; for Nubia and Abyssinia were both Christian countries, and 
the races of differing faiths were jealous of each other’s explorations 
and investigations. South of Abyssinia, they had explored the coast 
pretty thoroughly as far south as Madagascar, and had formed settle¬ 
ments at various points along the coast of Mozambique, which were in 
their possession when the earliest Portuguese navigators ventured 
around the Cape of Good Hope and reached the eastern coast from the 
south. 

Rome, as the representative of western civilization, had, from the 
earliest times, made many efforts to extend her empire toward the 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY 


147 


East; but bad been steadily resisted by the Semitic races. These efforts 
were not relaxed, even after western civilization had found other repre¬ 
sentatives. Toward the end of the fifteenth century, however, the fall of 
Constantinople and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain seemed to 
establish the boundaries of the Aryan empire and of the Semitic; and 



A MAGICIAN AT WORK. 


the people of the former race, no longer struggling vainly for a foot¬ 
hold in the East, sought new worlds to conquer in the West. Even 
before these events had actually come to pass, the results of the move¬ 
ment had begun to be felt. The same spirit which sent Columbus west¬ 
ward to find India, sent the Portuguese southward to explore the coast 
of Africa. 

The local position of Portugal, and its constant wars with Morocco, 
were the circumstances which seem to have directed the minds of the 















































































































148 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


people to the exploration and settlement of Africa. Prince Henry, the 
younger son of John I., seems to have been the first man of any influence 
to undertake the work. Rapid progress was made along the shore of 
the Sahara, and before long the Portuguese navigators had reached 
that fertile country which we now call Senegambia. 

There were many material advantages to be hoped for from a con¬ 
stant intercourse with this part of the world; but the Portuguese were 
not content with looking for those things which they were sure existed. 
Some early travelers in eastern Asia had told of a mysterious person¬ 
age whom they called Prester John; probably some Nestorian bishop, 
possessed of a degree of temporal power. The Portuguese had heard 
vague rumors of the Christian king of Abyssinia, and forthwith con¬ 
cluded that he was Prester John. The dominions of this ruler, it was 
reported, reached far inland; and the adventurous spirits who had 
embarked upon this series of undertakings decided that it would be com¬ 
paratively easy to reach his capital by an overland journey from the 
Gulf of Guinea. 

Their anticipations of the results of such success seem to have been 
as vague and uncertain as their knowledge ; but whatever they expected 
to be the consequence of having reached the court of Prester John, they 
spared no pains in the effort to do so. They penetrated into the interior 
as far as Timbuctoo, and must have gained a fairly accurate knowledge 
of that portion of the continent. Unfortunately, the information so 
acquired was either lost, or sedulously kept from the world at large, 
until modern discoveries had made their jealous secrecy useless. 

They continued to prosecute their discoveries along the coast, and 
in 1471 reached the coast of Guinea, where they built Elmina, the Mine, 
so called because of its position on the Gold Coast. The Pope gave them 
a title to all lands which should be discovered in this part of the world, 
and the king of Portugal assumed the title of Lord of Guinea. Hitherto, 
the progress of the discoverers had been marked by wooden crosses; but 
the king now gave orders that they were to erect stone pillars, twice the 
height of a man, surmounted by leaden crucifixes. In 1484, Diego Cam 
sailed from Lisbon, and erected such a pillar at what was then the most 
southerly limit of Portuguese discovery—the mouth of the Congo, a 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


149 


river which, from this circumstance, has frequently been called “The 
Biver of the Pillar’’ by the Portuguese writers. 

The Congo did not long remain the boundary, however. A number 
of the natives had been taken to Portugal by Cam, and an expedition to 
reconvey these to their native country set out in 1490. Many mission¬ 
aries accompanied the fleet, and strenuous efforts were made to Chris¬ 
tianize the country. The natives, at first, willingly received the new 
faith; but when the missionaries discovered that they had not renounced 
polygamy, and had no intention of doing so, it was found that the efforts 
had not been so successful as they at first appeared. Other failures to 
renounce their former practices became apparent, and the missionaries 
became despondent; one of them, it is said, died from the effects of the 
disappointment. 

How long they struggled against the persistency of paganism, we 
do not know; we only know what were the results of their self-sacrific¬ 
ing work in their voluntary exile. When Europeans again reached the 
mouth of the Congo, there was neither trace nor tradition of the Portu¬ 
guese missionaries. 

Before the date of this second expedition to the Congo, which ended 
so disastrously for those who remained after the vessels had returned 
to Portugal, Bartolommeo Diaz had sailed southward, and approaching 
land when in about twenty-six degrees of south latitude, had followed 
the coast-line- closely until he had almost reached the southern ex¬ 
tremity. Here he was buffeted about by contrary winds; but at last 
cast anchor in Algoa Bay, having rounded the Cape of Good Hope with¬ 
out knowing it. Being rejoined by his companion vessel, from which the 
storm had separated him, he set out on his return; and then noted his 
discovery. The cape was at first called “Cape of All the Storms;” but 
on his return, the king gave it the more auspicious name which it now 
bears. Diaz was greeted with much enthusiasm; but for some reason, 
was soon cast into the shade by Vasco de Gama, who was made his supe¬ 
rior in the expedition of 1497. 

While Diaz was the discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, Gama was 
the first to make any use of the discovery. In the year above named, he 
sailed around the southern point of the continent, touched at various 


150 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY, 


points on the eastern coast, which had hitherto been wholly unknown to 
Europeans, and securing the services of an intelligent Arab pilot, struck 
boldly across the Indian Ocean for India. A second expedition, in 



KAFFIR MAN AND WOMAN. 


1502, saw the founding of the Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and 
Sefala, on the eastern coast of Africa. 

The Portuguese supremacy over Guinea was ended when the mother 
country became involved in wars with the Dutch, which resulted favor¬ 
ably for Holland. Following close in the footsteps of the men of the 




A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


151 


Low Countries, came the French and English, lured by the hope of 
obtaining many slaves, and then by the expectation of finding in Africa 
another and a richer Peru. 

The first English expedition, which was dispatched in 1618, was 
under the command of Richard Thompson. It was formed for the pur¬ 
pose of exploring the Gambia, and reached the mouth of that river in 
December of that year. The Englishmen met with fierce resistance from 
the Portuguese, of whom there were still many in this region; but main¬ 
tained their station on the river, and sent home for re-inforcements. 
Most of the men upon the second expedition fell victims to disease; the 
commander of the third party heard, shortly before reaching his destina¬ 
tion, that Thompson had fallen by the hands of his own men. 

The fate of this first of English explorers of Africa has never been 
fully investigated. The history of the times is full of perilous adven¬ 
tures in which the spirit of the leader was more daring than that of his 
men; possibly Thompson, like Columbus, would have urged his fol¬ 
lowers onward on an unknown path; but, unlike Columbus, met with no 
favoring signs at the critical moment. In the way of positive testimony, 
we have only the representations of the crew, that their leader was 
oppressive and intolerable—interested evidence. 

The leader of this third expedition, intended for the relief of the first, 
of which Thompson was the chief, was Richard Jobson, who has given 
us the first satisfactory account of the great river districts of western 
Africa. Jobson was the first white man who obtained any accurate in¬ 
formation regarding the manners and customs of the interior African 
tribes, and recorded such knowledge in a form readily accessible. 

The Portuguese professed entire ignorance of the misfortunes which 
had befallen Thompson’s command, although the first English expedi¬ 
tion had, on one occasion at least, suffered severely at the hands of these 
earlier settlers. Taking their protestations for what they were worth, 
Jobson pushed on in the ascent of the Gambia, and soon reached the 
farthest point which had been attained by his predecessor. The advent 
of a trading-vessel was a great event in the eyes of the natives, who 
eagerly pressed toward the river, to exchange the products of the coun¬ 
try for the commodities of the strangers. 


152 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY . 


Jobson expected to reach Timbuctoo, by a comparatively short jour¬ 
ney; for Europeans generally had no good idea of the dimensions of 
Africa. He succeeded in getting to Penda, where he was presented at 
the primitive court of the king by a merchant who had acted as guide; 
and then set out upon his return. His whole progress, he bitterly com¬ 
plains, had been much hindered by the merchants who formed a part of 
his company, and who were utterly indifferent to everything except 
their own profit. His return was further delayed by the condition of 
the river; the dry season was now far advanced, and it was difficult to 

• 

descend such a shallow stream. 

For the next forty years, the political condition of England was such 
as to forbid much foreign enterprise on the part of her people. But when 
the civil dissensions were ended and Charles II. was recognized as king, 
new moves were made toward exploring this country, which promised 
so rich a reward. In 1665, an expedition was fitted out by private enter¬ 
prise, for the exploration of the Gambia, with a view to finding the 
sources whence the natives derived their stores of gold. All appliances 
for extracting gold from the mixtures in which it is found were carried 
with them; but their expectations were not wholly fulfilled. At one place 
by twenty days’ labor, they succeeded in extracting twelve pounds; and 
the leader declared, subsequently, that he had found the mouth of the 
mine; but as he never made any use of the knowledge, it is probable that 
his assertion was unfounded. 

Another expedition was sent out in 1720 by the African Company, 
of which the Duke of Chandos was then director. Of this expedition, 
Capt. Bartholomew Stibbs was the leader. It was with difficulty that he 
could persuade his guides to accompany him above the Falls of Barra- 
conda, a point which they declared was the end of the world, and beyond 
which there were only the rudest and fiercest savages. He at length 
succeeded in persuading them, however, and ascended the river for 
some distance above the falls, though not as far as Tenda, which Jobson 
had reached. The expedition of Stibbs is of importance, because of its 
effect upon the spirits of English explorers of Africa. Hitherto the 
Gambia had been confounded with the Niger; it was thought that by 
ascending the former, the explorers might with comparative ease pene- 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


153 


trate far into the interior, even to Timbuctoo. Stibbs declared that he 
had ascended the stream far enough to be able to judge of its size; he 
had seen no evidence of any great river; it issued from no lake, as the 

Niger was said to do; it was nowhere called by a name similar to Niger; 

# 

the natives declared that at twelve days’ journey above the falls it 
dwindled to a rivulet, which fowls might wade across. Despite the 
arguments which the English Company’s factor on the Gambia drew 
from history, Stibbs persisted in the statement of facts of which he had 
personal experience. It came to be felt that the legends concerning the 
Niger were without foundation; and a degree of discouragement was 
experienced which for some time effectually put an end to the desire for 
exploring this portion of Africa. It does not seem to have suggested 
itself to them that the Niger might really exist, a little farther from Eng¬ 
land than the stream which they had assumed was the one that they 
sought. 

While the English were exploring the Gambia, under the impression 
that it was the Niger, the French were making a similar mistake as to 
the Senegal. Shortly after the expedition commanded by Jobson, the 
French made a settlement near the mouth of the Senegal, which they 
named after the patron saint of their country and their king, Saint 
Louis. Accounts of this settlement were brought home, in 1637, by 
Jannequin, a young man of rank whose fancy sent him on a trip thither. 
For some time, however, the French seem to have made no great effort 
toward exploring the interior for any considerable distance. 

The settlement had been made under the auspices of a company to 
which Louis XIV. had granted a patent, giving exclusive right of terri¬ 
tory and privileges of settlement, trading, and exploration. This was the 
method employed by this king in furthering enterprises of the kind; and 
when one company became bankrupt, through extravagance or misman¬ 
agement, nothing was easier than to grant a patent for another. In this 
way four successive companies were formed having for their object the 
settlement and exploration of this part of Africa. It was not until 1697 
that they were under the management of a man who seems to have been 
thoroughly enthusiastic over the purpose for which the company was 
organized. In that year, the Sieur Brue was appointed director-general 
of the company’s affairs. 


154 


A BIT OF AFRICAN HISTORY. 


He at once began bis preparations for penetrating into the interior, 
intending to visit the Siratik, or king of the Foulalis, whose territory 
lay four hundred miles up the river. He seems to have met with no 
difficulty in prosecuting his journey; but was well received, first by the 
envoys, and then by the king himself. Presents of great value in the 
eyes of the natives, but costing only about sixty or seventy pounds ster¬ 
ling, were tendered as an evidence of the friendly feeling of the white 
men, and graciously accepted. Having accomplished the immediate 
object of his journey, the Sieur returned to St. Louis. 

He set out again the next year, having a more extended object in 
view. His first trip had been solely for the purpose of cultivating 
friendly feelings with the natives; in the second, he sought to ascend 
the Senegal as high as possible, and open up trade with the natives. He 
established the fort called St. Joseph, which was long the principal seat 
of French commerce on the upper Senegal; but failed to accomplish 
much beyond this; being compelled to return before the river fell so as 
to cut off his retreat. He obtained from the natives much information 
respecting the interior; unfortunately, their assertions were not always 
to be reconciled; especially was this the case in regard to the Niger, 
which seems for the first time to have been recognized as a stream dis¬ 
tinct from the Gambia or the Senegal. According to the statement of 
some of the natives, the Niger flowed westward from the lake; accord¬ 
ing to others, it flowed eastward; the former account of it represented 
it as separating into the two channels of the Senegal and the Gambia; 
but the great French geographers of the time adopted the other opinion. 

Brue wished to penetrate to the gold mines in the interior; but the 
tyranny of earliest Portuguese settlers had been such that the natives 
of that section were resolved not to permit the white men to enter their 
country again. Brue indeed secured the services of an intrepid advance, 
who, laden with presents, endeavored to persuade the natives to admit 
the party; but the project failed of accomplishment. Nor could Brue 
obtain from France the assistance which he required, if he made an 
effort to possess himself by force of the riches of the interior. 


CHAPTER XI. 


ROOSEVELT’S FIRST EXPERIENCE AS AN AFRICAN 

HUNTER. 

He Kills a Gnu or Wild Beast—Despatches Three Lions in One Day—Kermit Makes an Ex¬ 
pedition on His Own Hook—Smallpox Scare in the Camp—Other Thrilling Incidents. 

R OOSEVELT’S first niglit under canvas in Africa, was spent in 
the camp set up for the expedition in the vicinity of the railroad 
station at Kapoto Plains. Nothing disturbed the stillness of the 
tropical night except the monotonous concert of the beasts of prey, chief 
among whom was the lion, whose awe-inspiring roar, like the rumble of 
a distant thunder, when slowly dying away in repeated echoes among 
the mountains, sent an exerting thrill through the mighty hunter’s heart. 

The next morning he arose in splendid spirits and spent the day 
assorting his baggage and outfit, while his son Kermit, with some other 
members of the party, went out to try their luck with the rifles and 
succeeded in bringing down one antelope. “Bully, bully,” exclaimed 
the ex-President with a face beaming from pleasure when the booty 
was laid at his feet. 

He forbade the members of the expedition to give out any reports 
as to h!s movements and allowed only one representative of an Eng¬ 
lish news agency and some American reporters to accompany him. This 
inspired the Nairobi newspapers to make a venomous attack on Roose¬ 
velt and the acting governor, and caused the British government to ask 
for an explanation from the local authorities. 

A fine weather favored Roosevelt’s first hunt, and he had many 
reasons to be “ delighted, ” for he bagged two wildebeests and one gazelle 
the first day. 

Next to the monkey, says an African traveler, I believe the gnu or 
wildebeest is the most inquisitive of all animals. A hunter often comes 
upon herds of twenty to fifty. As soon as they caught sight of us, he 

155 


156 


ROOSEVELT AS AN AFRICAN HUNTER. 


continues, they would begin curveting around the wagons, wheeling 
about in endless circles and cutting all sorts of curious capers. 

While I was riding hard to obtain a shot at a herd in front of me, other 
herds charged down wind on my right and left, and, having described a 
number of circular movements, they took up position upon the very 
ground across which I had ridden only a few minutes before. Singly, 
and in small troops of four or five individuals, the old bull wildebeests 
may be seen stationed at intervals throughout the plains, standing mo¬ 
tionless during a whole forenoon, coolly watching with a philosophic eye 
the movements of the other game, uttering a loud snorting noise, and 
also a short sharp cry which is peculiar to them. When the hunter ap¬ 
proaches these old bulls, they commence whisking their long white tails 
in a most eccentric manner; then, springing into the air, begin prancing 
and capering, and pursue each other in circles at their utmost speed. 
Suddenly they all pull up together to overhaul the intruder, when the 
bulls will often commence fighting in the most violent manner, dropping 
on their knees at every shock; then, quickly wheeling about, they kick 
up their heels, whirl their tails with a fantastic flourish, and scour across 
the plain enveloped in a cloud of dust. In addition to their speed, wilde¬ 
beest are remarkable for their extreme tenacity of life; and, owing to the 
vigorous use they make of their horns, are awkward creatures to hunt 
with dogs. Europeans find them good practice in rifle-shooting, as they 
will stand in herds at a distance which they think secure, say three 
hundred or four hundred yards, and watch the passer-by. Only occa¬ 
sionally can they be approached within easy range by fair stalking; 
although they may be killed by watching at their drinking-holes at night. 
During a thunderstorm of unusual intensity, I walked, hardly knowing 
where I was going, right into a herd of gnu. I did not see them until 
I was almost among them; but even had my gun not beon hopelessly 
soaked, the fearful storm made self-preservation, and not destruction, 
one’s chief thought. They were standing huddled in a mass, their heads 
together, and their sterns outwards, and they positively only just moved 
out of my way, much the same as a herd of cattle might have done. 

The faculty of curiosity is largely developed in the gnu, which can 
never resist the temptation of inspecting any strange object, although 


ROOSEVELT AS AN AFRICAN HUNTER. 


157 


at the risk of its life. When a gnu first catches sight of any unknown 
being, he sets off at full speed, as if desirous of getting to the furthest 
possible distance from the terrifying object. Soon, however, the feeling 
of curiosity vanquishes the passion of fear, and the animal halts to 
reconnoitre. He then gallops in a circle round the cause of his dread. 

The native hunters are enabled to attract a herd of gnus, feeding out 
of shot, merely by getting up a clumsy imitation of an ostrich, by hold¬ 
ing a head of that bird on a pole, and making at their back a peacock’s 
tail of feathers. The inquisitive animals are so fascinated with the 
fluttering lure, that they actually approach so near as to be easily pierced 
with an arrow or an assegai. 

The gnu, or wildebeest, inhabits Africa. At first sight it is difficult 
to say whether the horse, buffalo, or deer predominates in its form. It, 
however, belongs to neither of these animals, but is one of the bovine 
antelopes. The horns cover the top of the forehead, and then, sweeping 
downwards over the face, turn boldly upwards with a sharp curve. The 
neck is furnished with a mane like that of the horse, and the legs are 
formed like those of a stag. 

His next victim was what is known as a Thompson gazelle. It was 
secured after several hours’ hunt, from which the members of the party 
returned to the camp tired and exhausted. 

The gazelle is regarded as the embodiment of grace and beauty, and 
is celebrated in song and story. It is usually of a sandy color and has a 
white streak on the side of the face from the base of the horn nearly to 
the nose, thus cutting off a dark triangular patch in the middle of the 
forehead, while the streak itself is bordered by a dark line. The horns, 
which are generally present in both sexes, are recurved and completely' 
ringed throughout the greater part of their length. Most of the gazelles 
do not exceed thirty inches in height, although the rnohr reaches thirty- 
six inches. There are about twenty-one living species. 

The gazelle so famous in Oriental poetry inhabits Arabia and Syria. 
Its eyes are very large, dark and lustrous, so that the Oriental poets love 
to compare the eyes of a woman to those of a gazelle, just as Homer con¬ 
stantly applied the epithet ox-eyed to the more majestic goddesses, such 
as Juno and Minerva. It is easily tamed when young, and is frequently 


158 


ROOSEVELT AS AN AFRICAN HUNTER. 


seen domesticated in the court yards of houses in Syria. Its swiftness 
is so great that even a greyhound cannot overtake it, and the hunters 
are forced to make use of hawks, which are trained to strike at the head 
of the gazelle, and thus confuse it and retard its speed, so as to permit 
the dogs to come up. The color of this pretty little animal is a dark 
yellowish brown, fading into white on the under parts. 

A peculiar gazelle, known as the gerenuk, or Waller’s gazelle, in¬ 
habits Eastern Africa, and is remarkable for the great length of its 
neck, which has been likened to a miniature giraffe. 

The gerenuk is found all over the Somali country in small families, 
never in large herds, and generally in scattered bush, ravines and rocky 
ground. I have never seen it in the cedar-forests, nor in the treeless 
plains. Gerenuk are not necessarily found near water; in fact, gen¬ 
erally in stony ground with a sprinkling of thorn-jungle. Its gait is 
peculiar. When first seen, a buck gerenuk will generally be standing 
motionless, head well up, looking at the intruder, and trusting to its 
invisibility. Then the head dives under the bushes, and the animal goes 
off at a long, crouching trot, stopping now and again behind some bush 
to gaze. The trot is awkward-looking, and very like that of a camel; 
the gerenuk seldom gallops, and its pace is never very fast. In the whole 
shape of the head and neck, and in the slender lower jaw, there is a 
marked resemblance between the gerenuk and the dibatag. It subsists 
more by browsing than by grazing and it may not unfrequently be ob¬ 
served standing up on its hind-legs, with outstretched neck, and its fore¬ 
feet resting against the trunk of a tree, in order to pluck the foliage. 

A beautiful species of gazelle is the Dorcas, found in Egypt and Bar¬ 
bary, where it lives in large troops upon the borders of the cultivated 
country, and also in the deserts. When pursued it flies to some dis¬ 
tance, then stops to gaze a moment at the hunters, and again renews 
its flight. The flock, when attacked collectively, disperse in all direc¬ 
tions, but soon unite, and when brought to bay defend themselves 
with courage and obstinacy, uniting in a close circle, with the females 
and fawns in the center, and presenting their horns at all points to their 
enemies; yet, notwithstanding their courage, they are the common prey 
of the lion and panther and are hunted with great perseverance. 


CHAPTER XII. 


AFRICA'S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND PARTITION . 
AMONG EUROPEAN NATIONS. 

Size of the Dark Continent—Natural Resources and Population—Climate and Geography- 
Rivers, Lakes and Mountains—Deserts and Vast Forests. 

T HE Continent Roosevelt selected as the battleground for his 
achievements as a hunter and a naturalist is one of the most inter¬ 
esting parts of the old world. 

GIGANTIC STRIDES IN CIVILIZATION. 

Has the average reader ever realized what the figures expressing 
the population of Africa mean? One hundred and seventy millions of 
people! Twenty-eight millions more than both North and South Amer¬ 
ica together. 

Little will be heard about “darkest Africa” in future generations. 
The advance of civilization to that continent has worked rapid changes 
in its people and in the country. As the great American desert has dis¬ 
appeared from modern maps of the United States, as well as from the 
minds of the people, so portions of the great Sahara Desert now bid fair 
to be reclaimed to usefulness. An enterprising American, after a sur¬ 
vey by English and American engineers, has undertaken the irrigation 
of a large area of the Sahara Desert from the river Nile. It is claimed 
that it needs only water to transform it into a region of great fertility. 

Africa, one of the three great divisions of the Old World, and the 
second in extent of the five principal continents of the globe, forms a 
vast peninsula joined to Asia by the Isthmus of Suez. It is of a com¬ 
pact form, with a few important projections or indentations, and having 
therefore a very small extent of coast-line (about 16,000 miles, or much 
less than that of Europe) in proportion to its area. 

The continent extends from 37 degrees 20 minutes north latitude, to 

159 


160 


AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 


34 degrees 50 minutes south latitude, and the extreme points, Cape 
Blanco and Cape Agulhas, are nearly 5,000 miles apart. From west to 
east, between Cape Verde, longitude 17 degrees 34 minutes west, and 
Cape Guardafui, longitude 51 degrees, 16 minutes east, the distance is 
about 4,600 miles. The area is estimated at 11,508,793 sq. miles, or more 
than three times that of Europe. The islands belonging to Africa are 
few; they include Madagascar, Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde Is¬ 
lands, Fernando Po, Prince’s Island, St. Thomas, Ascension, St. Helena, 
Mauritius, Bourbon, the Comoros and Socotra. 

THE PARTITION OF AFRICA. 

The desperate struggle among the European powers for colonial 
possessions in Africa is of comparatively recent origin. While the 
earliest explorations began in 1553, when a body of British merchants 
sent out in search of trade a few vessels to Guinea, there was no thought 
of anything more than an effort to find a new market for English produc¬ 
tions. It was more than forty years later, in 1595, that the Dutch fol¬ 
lowed the English merchants in the attempt to establish a trading sta¬ 
tion on the coast of Guinea. About the same time that the British 
traders began the exploration of the Guinea coast the French sent out 
on the same errand and located at what is now known as French 
Guinea. Thus at the beginning of the seventeenth century nearly all the 
portions of Africa that were held by the nations of Europe were the 
three divisions of the coast of Guinea that were known respectively as 
British, French and Dutch Guinea. 

Even at the end of that century England and France were the 
principal rivals for African trade; but at the close of the French wars 
France had lost nearly all her possessions in Africa as well as else¬ 
where. In this war Great Britain acquired the ascendency in African 
affairs, which she stubbornly held for 200 years. Leaving the coast, 
they both pushed into the interior, which example was followed by other 
nations. Generally the partition of Africa went on slowly and peace¬ 
ably, and it was not until the Brussels conference in 1878 that the unre¬ 
strained scramble began that has resulted in the division of the entire 
continent among the different nations of Europe. Thus in 1876, while 



Copyright 1909, by National Magazine. 

ZEBRA ATTACKED BY A LION. 

Zebra are always found in herds but as soon as one is atta deed or wounded it at once separates from the others, allowing 
its companions to get away safely while it tights for its life alone. 
















From Stereograph Copyright 1909, by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. 

CURING ANTELOPE FOR USE ON LONG FORCED MARCHES. 

Contrary to popular ideas there are large sections of African Jungle and plain where 
Col. Roosevelt hunted, where food material of every sort is scarce and must be planned for 
beforehand. The native porters are here seen after the hunt curing strips of Antelope 
meat with which they sustain life while crossing the dreary wastes. 











AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 


161 


Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal had located colonies on the 
coast of Africa, the interior was held by the wild tribes that occupied it 
against all foreign aggression. The Berlin conference in 1876 was the 
time at which the energetic division of the continent was inaugurated, 
and at the close of 1890 of the 11,508,793 square miles of territory com¬ 
posing the continent of Africa only some 1,500,000 remained open to 
seizure by the nations of Europe. There were even then some conflicting 
claims that had not been settled, as the conflicts between French, German 
and British interests on the Niger clearly testified. But these, together 
with the disputes between Portugal and England in the upper Zambesi, 
have been amicably settled, and it is mainly the claims that arise out of 
the British occupation of Egypt now that the British and Boers in 
South Africa have come to a settlement. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

The interior of Africa is as yet imperfectly known, but we know 
enough of the continent as a whole to be able to point to some general,' 
features and characterize it. One of these is that almost all round it at 
no great distance from the sea, and, roughly speaking, parallel with the 
coast-line, we find ranges of mountains or elevated lands forming the 
outer edges of interior plateaux. 

The most striking feature of Northern Africa is the immense tract 
known as the Sahara or Great Desert, which is inclosed on the north by 
the Atlas Mountains (greatest height, 12,000 to 13,000 feet), the plateau 
of Barbary, and that of Barca, on the east by the mountains along the 
west coast of the Red Sea, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the 
south by the Sudan. 

The Sahara is by no means the sea of sand it has sometimes been 
represented; it contains elevated plateaux and even mountains radiating 
in all directions, with habitable valleys between. A considerable nomadic 
population is scattered over the habitable parts, and in the more favored 
regions there are settled communities. 

The Sudan, which lies to the south of the Sahara, and separates it 
from the more elevated plateau of Southern Africa, forms a belt of 
pastoral country across Africa, and includes the countries on the Niger, 


162 


AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 


around Lake Tchad (or Chad), and eastwards to the elevated region 
of Abyssinia. 

Southern Africa as a whole is much more fertile and better watered 
than northern Africa, though it also has a desert tract of considerable 
extent (the Kalahari Desert). This division of the continent consists of 
a table-land, or series of table-lands, of considerable elevation and 
great diversity of surface, exhibiting hollows filled with great lakes and 
terraces over which the rivers break in falls and rapids, as they find 
their way to the low-lying coast tracts. 

The mountains which inclose Southern Africa are mostly much 
higher on the east than on the west, the most northernly of the former 
being those of Abyssinia, with heights of 10,000 to 14,000 or 16,000 feet, 
while the eastern edge of the Abyssinian plateau presents a steep un¬ 
broken line of 7,000 feet in height for many hundred miles. Farther 
south, and between the great lakes and the Indian ocean, we find Mounts 
Kenia and Kilimanjaro (19,500 feet), the loftiest in Africa, covered with 
perpetual snow. 

Of the continuation of this mountain boundary we shall only men¬ 
tion the Drakenburg Mountains, which stretch to the southern extremity 
of the continent, reaching in Cathkin Peak, Natal, the height of over 
10,000 feet. Of the mountains that form the western border the highest 
are the Cameroon Mountains, which rise to a height of 13,000 feet, at the 
inner angle of the Gulf of Guinea. The average elevation of the southern 
plateau is probably from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 

THE RIVER NILE. 

The Nile is the only great river of Africa which flows to the Mediter¬ 
ranean. It receives its waters primarily from the great lake Victoria 
Nyanza, which lies under the equator, and its upper course is fed by 
tributary streams of great size, but for the last 1,200 miles of its course 
it has not a single affluent. It drains an area of more than 1,000,000 
square miles. 

The Indian Ocean receives numerous rivers; but the only great river 
of South Africa which enters that ocean is the Zambesi, the fourth in 
size of the continent, and having in its course the Victoria Falls, one of 
the greatest waterfalls in the world. 


AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 


163 


In Southern Africa also but flowing westward and entering the At¬ 
lantic is the Kongo, which takes origin from a series of lakes and 
marshes in the interior, is fed by great tributaries, and is the first in 
volume of all the African rivers, carrying to the ocean more water than 
the Mississippi. Unlike most of the African rivers, the mouth of the 
Kongo forms an estuary. Of the other Atlantic rivers, the Senegal, 
the Gambia, and the Niger are the largest, the last being third among 
African streams. 


LAKES. 

With the exception of Lake Tchad there are no great lakes in the 
northern division of Africa, whereas in the number and magnificence of 
its lakes the southern division almost rivals North America. Here are 
the Victoria and Albert Nyanza, Lakes Tanganyika, Nyassa, Shirwa, 
Bangweolo, Moero, and a few others. 

Of these the Victoria and Albert belong to the basin of the Nile; 
Tanganyika, Bangweolo, and Moero to that of the Kongo; Nyassa, by 
its affluent the Shire, to the Zambesi, Lake Tchad on the borders of the 
Northern desert region, and Lake Ngami on the borders of the southern, 
have a remarkable resemblance in position, and in the fact that both are 
drained by streams that lose themselves in the sand. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate of Africa is mainly influenced by the fact that it lies 
almost entirely within the tropics. In the equatorial belt, both north and 
south, rain is abundant and vegetation very luxuriant, dense tropical for¬ 
ests prevailing for about 10 degrees on either side of the line. To the 
north and south of the equatorial belt the rainfall diminishes, and the 
forest region is succeeded by an open pastoral and agricultural country. 
This is followed by the rainless regions of the Sahara on the north and 
the Kalahari Desert on the south, extending beyond the tropics, and bor¬ 
dering on the agricultural and pastoral countries of the north and south 
coasts, which lie entirely in the temperate zone. The low coast re¬ 
gions of Africa are almost everywhere unhealthy, the Atlantic coast 
within the tropics being the most fatal region to Europeans. 


164 


AFRICA’S GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 


MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 

Among mineral productions may be mentioned gold, which is found 
in the rivers of West Africa (hence the name Gold Coast), and in South¬ 
ern Africa, but rarely in much abundance; diamonds have been found in 
large numbers in recent years in the south; iron, copper, lead, tin and coal 
are also found. 

Among plants are the baobab, the date-palm (important as a food 
plant in the north), the doum-palm, the oil-palm, the wax-palm, the shea- 
butter tree, trees yielding caout-cliouc, the papyrus, the castor-oil plant, 
indigo, the coffee-plant, heaths with beautiful flowers, aloes, etc. 

Among cultivated plants are wheat, maize, millet, and other grains, 
cotton, coffee, cassava, ground-nut, yam, banana, tobacco, various fruit, 
etc. 

Of African trade two features are the caravans that traverse great 
distances, and the trade in slaves that still widely prevails and is ac¬ 
companied by an immense amount of bloodshed. 

Among articles exported from Africa are palm-oil, diamonds, gold, 
ivory, ostrich feathers, wool, cotton, esparto, caoutchouc, etc. 

The chief independent states in Africa are Morocco, Liberia, and 
Abyssinia. In 1891 Portugal annexed part of Loanda. To Great 
Britain belong the colonies of the Cape and Natal, with some large ad¬ 
joining tracts, also British East Africa, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, 
the Niger territory, Zanzibar the Samali Coast, the islands of Sokotra, 
and Mauritius; to France belong Algeria and Tunis, Senegambia, and 
a considerable territory north of the Lower Congo; the western Sahara, 
Dahomey, a small territory on the Gulf of AdeD, known as French So¬ 
mali, and the Island of Madagascar and adjacent islands; the Portuguese 
possess a portion of the west coast of South Africa from about latitude 6 
degrees south to 17 degrees south, and the east coast from about 10 de¬ 
grees south to 27 degrees south, and a small tract on the west coast. 
Germany now has a portion of the southwest coast, and a large tract near 
Zanzibar, and the Kamerum and Togo on the Gulf of Guinea; to Turkey 
nominally belong Egypt, Barca and Tripoli; Spain has a part of the 
coast of Sahara. The Congo State is under the sovereignty of the 
King of Belgium. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

ROOSEVELT'S REMARKABLE SKILL AS A HUNTER. 


Exciting Encounters with a Bull Rhinoceros—The First Elephant Falls for His Never Failing 
Bullet—Giraffes, Leopards and Other Beasts Bagged—Cubs Captured Alive. 

R OOSEVELT’S success*as a hunter in Africa during the first four 
months has already proved to be a record-breaking chain of sur¬ 
prising achievements. The first three months’ hunting yielded 
42 head of big game and among whom were seven lions, ten rhinoceros, 
4 hippopotami, 4 giraffes, 3 wildebeests, 5 buffalos and one elephant. 

During this brilliant career as a beast killer Roosevelt has time and 
again risked his life, and his success has been due to his undaunted cour¬ 
age, unerring aim and exceptional presence of mind. 

All of these qualities of his combined brought death to a large bull 
rhinoceros near Machabos. 

The long, low, uncouth-looking beast, of some five feet in height at 
the shoulder, and shaped much like an immense hog, came running full 
tilt at our nimrod. 

The short, upright horn on the snout, the contour of the animal, and 
the loose folds of skin that covered his ribs, the maddened squeal that was 
heard above the snapping of the bush, proclaimed the arrival of the most 
dangerous of all wild animals, the African rhinoceros. 

Roosevelt ’s resolution was taken in an instant. He must either kill 
the bull, or be killed himself almost inevitably. He was not ten feet from 
him when— 

One flash! It was enough! Struck through the brain the old bull 
dropped instantaneously, and the ex-President was safe. 

The rhinoceros is a favorite game in Africa. It has a-ferocious dis¬ 
position and is hard to kill. The easiest and least dangerous method is 
for the hunter to conceal himself and shoot it when it comes to drink at 
the pool. The true sportsman prefers to hunt it on horseback with dogs. 

165 


166 


ROOSEVELTS REMARKABLE SKILL. 


As the eyes of the rhinoceros are very small, it seldom turns its head 
and therefore sees nothing but what is before it. It is to this that it 
owes its death, and never escapes if there be so much plain as to enable 
the horses of the hunters to get before it. Its pride and fury then makes 
it lay aside all thoughts of escaping, except by victory over its enemy. 
For a moment it stands at bay; then at a start runs straight forward at 
the horse which is nearest. The rider easily avoids the attack by turn¬ 
ing short to one side. This is the fatal instant; a naked man who is 



ONE FLASH ! AND THE OLD BULL LAY AT THE EX-PRESIDENT’S FEET. 


mounted behind the principal horseman, drops off the horse, and, unseen 
by the rhinoceros, gives it, with a sword a stroke across the tendon of the 
heel, which renders it incapable either of flight or resistance. 

Several travelers have mentioned that there are certain birds which 
constantly attend the rhinoceros, and give him warning of approaching 
danger. Their accounts were either received with silent contempt, or 




















ROOSEVELTS REMARKABLE SKILL. 


167 


treated with open ridicule, as preposterous extensions of the traveler’s 
privilege of romancing. I can bear witness to the truth of these reports, 
says a famous sportsman. Once while hunting the rhinoceros in Africa, 
I saw a huge female lying in the jungle asleep. My first thought was to 
photograph her and then attack her. I began to crawl toward her, but 
before I could reach the proper distance several rhinoceros-birds, by 
which she was attended, warned her of the impending danger, by sticking 
their bills into her ear, and uttering their harsh, grating cry. Thus 
aroused, she suddenly sprang to her feet, and crashed away through 
the jungle at a rapid trot, and I saw no more of her. 

Next to the elephant in size, comes the rhinoceros, which with the 
hippopotamus, lays claim to bulk and ferocity unequalled by any other 
member of the animal kingdom. The rhinoceros is found in the rivers of 
Central Africa and Southern Asia. It can only live in tropical climates. 

The length of the rhinoceros is usually about twelve feet, and this is 
also nearly the girth of its body. The skin, which is of a blackish color, is 
disposed, about the neck, into large plaits or folds. A fold of the same 
kind passes from the shoulders to the fore legs; another from the hind 
part of the back to the thighs. The skin is naked, rough, and covered 
with a kind of tubercles, or large callous granulations. Between the 
folds, and under the belly, it is soft, and of a light rose-color. The horns 
are composed of a closely-packed mass of horn fibers, growing from the 
skin, and having no connection with the bones of the skull, although there 
are prominences on the latter beneath each horn. All are mainly abroad 
at night, and while some resemble the tapirs in frequenting tall grass- 
jungles and swampy districts, others seem to prefer the open plains. 

Some hunters have created the impression that the hide of the rhinoc¬ 
eros will turn a leaden bullet and sometimes an iron one. This is a 
popular error, for a common leaden ball will pierce the hide at a dis¬ 
tance of thirty or forty paces, especially if a double charge of powder be 
used, which is the custom with all rhinoceros hunters. The most deadly 
aim is just behind the shoulder. The skull is too thick and the brain 
pan too small for a successful shot at the head. 

The killing of the huge rhinoceros bull which was of unusual size 
and no doubt is one of the most valuable specimens in the Smithsonian 


168 


ROOSEVELTS REMARKABLE SKILL. 


collection called forth repeated cheers for Bwana Tambo from the 
sonorous throats of the natives. 

The African elephant is a more dangerous animal than the Indian, 
and is more ready to charge. The first one killed by Roosevelt was a 
huge animal and the leader of a herd of about a dozen. At a distance 
of forty feet Roosevelt struck its heart and it went over dead. A baby 
elephant was captured an hour later and sent over to the New York 
Zoological Garden. The Arabs slay the elephant by hamstringing it 
with a long two-edged sword. They follow the animal until it faces its 
pursuers and prepares to charge. The hunter then puts his horse to a 
gallop, closely followed by the elephant. They follow at their best pace, 
and as soon as they come up with the fleeing animal, one leaps to the 
ground, and with one blow of his huge sword divides the tendon of the 
elephant’s leg a short distance above the heel. The ponderous beast is 
at once brought to a standstill, and is at the mercy of his aggressors. 

A leopard or African Panther was' killed by our ex-President during 
the hunt and its cubs captured alive. The animal was dispatched at a 
distance of only six paces and already had mauled a beater and was 
charging Kermit when the fatal shot was fired. 

Among the reptiles killed by Roosevelt was a python, measuring 23 
feet. It was quietly making a meal of an antelope when the bullet struck 
it back of the head, cutting a vertebra. The naturalists of the party had 
collected two other pythons and four hundred birds and animals. 

In Nairobi a splendid reception had been planned in his honor, but 
had to be abandoned owing to his expressed desire to spend the time writ¬ 
ing. Half the distance Roosevelt rode with Major Mearns on the loco¬ 
motive cowcatcher, for about 22 miles, and the scenery along the road 
delighted him, especially the Escarpment and the Rift Valley. 

The highest point reached was the Kikuyu escarpment—7,830 feet— 
from where Roosevelt had a magnificent view down 2,000 feet into the 
great Rift Valley, where elephants, monkeys, etc., are plentiful, but 
fairly safe from the hunter owing to the thickness of the growth. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN AFRICA. 


Religions of Africa—Fetichism—Devil Worship—Portuguese and Protestant Missions—London 
Missionary Society—Livingstone—Dutch Reformed Church—American Missions—Catholic 
Missions in Northern Africa—Persecutions—Martyrdoms—A Christian Ruler. 

R OOSEVELT has always taken a deep interest in the efforts made 
by the missionaries to Christianize and civilize barbarian coun¬ 
tries and during his stay in Africa had an excellent opportunity 
to study this work at close range. 

The forms of religious beliefs professed by the inhabitants of Africa 
may be classed under three heads—Christian, Mohammedan, and pagan. 
The second form of faith was propagated in this continent at a very 
early period of Mohammedan history; and we find professors of it among 
many tribes which are not far removed from a state of savagery. 
These, however, are only nominally Mohammedans; in their gross super¬ 
stitions, their ignorance, and their revolting practices, they are really 
pagans; and their profession of belief in the Prophet of Islam only 
serves to bring contempt upon his teachings, as too many who call 
themselves by a holier name bring contempt, by the manner of their lives, 
upon the religion which they profess. 

It is difficult to speak in general terms of the faiths which are classed 
under the head of pagan. Some tribes appear to have a confused and 
gross belief in a future life; others declare that death ends all. Others, 
again, believe in the transmigration of souls, and hold certain animals 
in reverence, as inhabited by the souls of dead friends. The negroes on 
the equatorial western coast of Africa believe that the souls of men fre¬ 
quently pass into gorillas, and that such animals are too•cunning for 
the hunter. Some people have a well defined belief in a superior Being, 
who is good and beneficent; others, again, while they believe in spirits, 
cannot imagine one that is not malevolent; and are perpetually in 

169 



170 ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 

terror of all supernatural agencies. But whatever rank these various 
religions may hold in point of purity or approach to reason, there is 
one thing in which they all agree: all teach a belief in magic, by whatever 
name it may be called; and the sorcerer is a person to be feared, the 
diviner to be honored. 


AFRICAN SUPERSTITION—UNFAVORABLE PROPHECY. 

One particular form of this belief in magic is Fetichism, or the belief 
in charms. A European explorer of recent years relates that on one 
occasion, when he had become unconscious from the effects of fever, 
he found, upon recovering his senses, that he was almost literally 
covered with charms which his faithful servitors had believed would 
restore him to health. But it was not even an opportunity for a faith 
cure; for he cast aside the antelope’s horns, elephant’s teeth and similar 
articles, and took a dose of quinine. The present writer is not prepared 
to say what are the peculiar virtues of the various fetiches, or whether 
the Africans are so ridiculous as to hang a horse-shoe over the stable- 










ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


171 


door for luck, or carry a horse-chestnut in the pocket (those of them who 
wear clothes) to ward off rheumatism. 

From their universal belief in spirits, and that prevailing impres¬ 
sion that spirits cannot be beneficent, arises what has been styled devil- 
worship. Much of that to which this name is applied is properly so 
called, since it is an effort to propitiate bad spirits; it may be that ig¬ 
norance of their language and customs has caused some genuine wor¬ 
ship of a Good Being to be so designated; since the stranger would sup¬ 
pose the god so worshipped to be, necessarily, a false one. 

In 1481, the king of Portugal sent ten ships with five hundred soldiers 
and one hundred laborers, together with “a proper complement of 
priests,” to Elmina. The mission thus founded lingered on for a 
period of 241 years, but does not seem to have made any impression 
upon the natives, except those who were immediately dependent ujDon the 
whites at the station. Finally, in 1723, the mission of the Capuchins at 
Sierra Leone was given up, and they disappeared altogether from West 
Africa. Whatever influence they may have had at the time has left 
no permanent traces. 

An effort was made by the same authority to establish a mission 
station at the mouth of the Congo; but the natives proved too thoroughly 
wedded to their immoral practices to be really desirous of a purer mode 
of life. Somewhat of the story might be told, did our space admit; but 
the end is wrapped in darkness; vessels came from Portugal, and found 
that the missionaries had disappeared, and no one could or would tell 
them how. 

The earliest Protestant efforts for the evangelization of Africa were 

made in 1736. In that vear the Moravians determined to send out a mis- 

•/ 

sionary to the southern part of this great continent. The next year, 
George Schmidt arrived at the mouth of Sergeant’s River. Though op¬ 
posed and persecuted both by the government of the colony and by 
the native chiefs, he persevered, and at last succeeded in estabTshing a 
mission at Genadenthal, one hundred and twenty miles north of the 
Cape. The results of nine years’ labor showed that forty-seven families 
had professed Christianity, and received baptism. He then returned to 
his native Holland, to seek for assistance; but not only did he find no 


172 


ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


others who would join him, but for some unexplained reason, he was 
not allowed to return. He passed the remainder of his days as a poor 
day-laborer in Germany, “with his heart in that southern land which he 
was never to see again.” 

On the west coast, the efforts of the Moravians were less successful. 
Beginning there at the same time that Schmidt went to South Africa, five 
different attempts were made to establish missionary stations; but they 
were made at the cost of eleven lives. Finally, in 1770, the effort was 
given up. 

The Methodists were the next to seek to occupy the field. In the 
Minutes of the Conference for 1792, we find Africa, for the first time, 
set down as one of the missionary stations, Sierra Leone being the point 
selected. Four years later, the names of A. Murdoch and W. Patten are 
set down as missionaries to the Foulah country. 

In 1798, the London Missionary Society sent out four missionaries, 
who arrived at the Cape the next year. Of these the most remarkable 
was Dr. Vanderkemp, who for years endured great hardships in his work 
of preaching the gospel to “his beloved Hottentots.” But the most not¬ 
able (with one great exception) of the missionaries sent out by this so¬ 
ciety was Robert Moffat. 

He was a young man of but twenty-two when he offered himself 
for the work. Of his early training we have not space to say much; 
but volumes are told of the influences which had surrounded him at home, 
in the answer of his parents when he asked their consent to engage in 
this work: “We have thought of your proposal to become a mission¬ 
ary; we have prayed over it; and we cannot withhold you from so 
good a work.” He never had any formal theological training; and 
seems, indeed, to have had but slight acquaintance with schools gen¬ 
erally. 

Great Namaqua-land was to be the scene of his earliest labors; a 
region where there had already been some effort at evangelization, so 
that the chief Africaner was thought to give evidence that would war¬ 
rant a hope of his conversion. The missionary, of course, had landed at 
Cape Town; and the journey across Cape Colony was both toilsome and 
adventurous. It was late in January, 1818, when he arrived at Afri¬ 
caner’s kraal, on the banks of the Orange River. 


ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


173 


No sooner was lie told that a white man had come, than Africaner 
appeared and demanded if Moffat were the missionary who had been 
promised. Receiving an answer in the affirmative, he turned to two 
women standing by, and commanded them to build a house for the mis¬ 
sionary at once. They went to work with an alacrity that showed how 
pleasing the task was; and in an hour’s time the “house” was finished. 
It is true that it was not a very substantial edifice; composed of native 
mats hung on poles, it was a shelter from neither rain nor sun, and fre¬ 
quently required extensive repairs after a storm. A dog could push 
aside the mats and enter at will; sometimes such an uninvited visitor 
would help himself to the missionary’s stock of provisions for the next 
day. “Nor were these all the contingencies of such a dwelling; for as 
the cattle belonging to the village had no fold, I had been compelled to 
start up from a sound sleep, and try to defend myself and my dwelling 
from being crushed to pieces by the rage of two bulls which had met to 
fight a nocturnal duel.” 

But the hut, rude and unsubstantial as it was, was the best that they 
knew how to build; and Moffat felt himself more than repaid for such 
slight evils as bodily discomfort when the chief Africaner became an 
earnest Christian, and zealously seconded the efforts of the young mis¬ 
sionary to teach his people not only the Gospel, but those lessons of 
industry and cleanliness which so powerfully assist the missionary in all 
countries to emphasize the blessings which his religion would teach the 
world. 

Several efforts were made to find a place which would be more suit¬ 
able for a missionary station than Africaner’s kraal; it was desired to 
reach other peoples more directly; but these efforts were not successful. 
Finally, it was decided that Africaner’s two brothers, who proved to be 
able and willing assistants, should conduct the services at the kraal when 
Moffat found it necessary to absent himself on missionary tours. These 
he made frequently. This missionary rode a borrowed horse, to the 
back of the saddle of which was tied a blanket, in which was wrapped 
his Bible and hyinnbook. His guide rode an ox. They were not en¬ 
cumbered with useless baggage; they carried only a pipe, some tobacco, 
and a tinder-box—for it was before the days of matches. Their living 


174 


ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


they managed to get wherever they might be. After a day’s ride through 
the hot sun, they would ask a drink of milk at the village to which they 
came; and then, assembling the people in a corner of the cattle-fold, the 
missionary would tell the glad tidings he had come so far to bring. 
His sermon done, and some talk held with the people individually, the 



.THE PROPHETESS AT WORK. 


preacher would lie down on a mat in the corner of a hut for the night. 
After another address in the morning, the preacher and his companion 
would ride on toward another village, where the same thing would be 
repeated. Often their only breakfast was a drink of milk and some¬ 
times, on arriving in the evening at a point where they had expected 
to find a village, they would discover that lack of grass and water had 
compelled the inhabitants to drive their flocks and herds, and remove 
their rude huts and few belongings to some other point. 



























ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


175 


Moffat spent forty years in this work; and lived to see the mission¬ 
ary stations pushed as far as the head-waters of the Limpopo, in 
twenty-four degrees south latitude; Kolobeng feeing then the farthest 
station in the interior. His daughter became the wife of the most 
famous African missionary—David Livingstone. It is useless here to 
follow his work in detail, since the country which he traversed has 
been explored by travelers who have noted more closely than he the 
characteristics of the country, because they were less concerned with 
the welfare of the people. Moffat was, above all else, a missionary; 
that work, in his eyes, far transcended anything else in importance; 
hence there is but little space for him in a volume on the history of 
African exploration. 

In regard to the missionary labors of Livingstone, we shall here say 
nothing; but when he returned to England after his first great journey 
and long residence in Africa, his account of his experiences gave a 
greater impulse to the missionary effort for this part of the world than 
anything else had ever done. It is in place to sum up the results of 
ninety years’ labor by the emissaries of the London Missionary Society 
in Africa. There are about twenty principal stations, with fifty-two 
branches, including the Tanganyika mission in Central Africa. One of 
the chief stations, Kuruman, seven hundred and fifty miles due north 
from the Cape, was founded by Moffat and Hamilton in 1817; it was here 
that Livingstone found a cliurch-house, a well-stocked garden, and a 
printing-press—evidences of civilization that surprised the newly ar¬ 
rived missionary not a little. It was here, too, that he found Mary 
Moffat, who had not then (1840) dreamed that she would one day be¬ 
come Mary Livingstone. 

Twenty-five English missionaries and something more than a hun¬ 
dred native preachers carry on the work so nobly begun, and the sta¬ 
tions of the society now have forty-two schools, with more than two 
thousand pupils. The communicants number nearly twenty-five thou¬ 
sand. 

The Dutch Reformed Church is naturally, from the number of Boers 
there resident, a strong one in South Africa; and from the settle¬ 
ments as a basis, missionaries have gone out among the surrounding 


176 


ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, 


tribes, until between four and five thousand of the aborigines have been 
brought into the church, while more than twenty thousand others are 
under instruction. 

When Livingstone had aroused enthusiasm in England in regard to 
African mission work, the two great universities, Oxford and Cam¬ 
bridge, resolved to institute a mission at the mouth of the Zambesi. 
Bishop Mackenzie was selected to take charge of it; and accompanied 



A SLAVE MARKET. 


by six Englishmen, and five colored men from the Cape, he arrived 
at the scene of his intended labors in 1861. But he was not long to work 
here. He became entangled in the terrible slavery broils, and made fre¬ 
quent trips to a country far from healthful; he contracted a fever through 
these journeys, which was neglected because the press of his duties was so 































ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


177 


great. He sank rapidly, and died in the liut of a native, situated on the 
edge of a dark forest. His companion read the burial service over his 
body; but in a few days more, he too was cut down by the terrible fever, 
and was buried in that strange land. Another and another fell vic¬ 
tims to the climate, and in 1862 the attempt was, for the time, given up. 
It has since been revived, however, and a mission instituted, with head¬ 
quarters at Zanzibar, and twelve laborers in the field, with as many 
assistants. 

Shortly after the death of Livingstone, the Free Church of Scotland 
resolved to establish a memorial mission. Livingstonia was adopted 
as the name, and the southern end of Lake Nyassa as the site. Ten thou¬ 
sand pounds was the sum subscribed, and the Free Church of Scotland, 
the Established Church of Scotland and the United Presbyterian Church 
united in the enterprise. The work received a severe blow when Dr. 
Black, a young man of great promise, died; his last words were: 
“Africa must not be given up, though it should cost thousands of 
lives.” True to this watchword, the work in this section has been 
carried on with unextinguishable zeal; and a companion mission sta¬ 
tion called Blantyre established some two hundred miles from Livings¬ 
tonia. 

The American Board for Foreign Missions began its work on the 
west coast of Africa in 1834, by establishing a station at Cape Palmas. 

The same point has been chosen as a station by the American 
Episcopalians, who have also stations at other places not far distant. 

The efforts of the Baptists of this country liavfc been most vigorous 
in Liberia and the Yarriba country, where churches and schools have 
been established, and much good has been accomplished among the 
natives of the vicinity. 

Most of the American missions are on the west coast of Africa. 
The first established was that of the American Baptist Missionary Union, 
in Liberia, in 1821. After eleven years, this was followed by the estab¬ 
lishment of another station in the same locality by the American Pres¬ 
byterian Board of Missions. The same year (1832) the Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Missionary Society sent a missionary to Liberia, who died shortly 
after reaching that country. The good work was carried on, however, 


178 


ROOSEVELT VISITS CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 


and others followed him to the dangerous charge, but without suffer¬ 
ing the same fatal results from the climate. The work is now carried 
on chiefly by native workers, who are less liable to the dreaded African 
Fever than strangers; and the work is under the charge of a colored 
bishop (Taylor). 

The “American Board” of Missions began its African work in 1834 
at Cape Palmas; and two years afterward, the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of the United States established a station at the same point. 
This church sent out three missionaries, who worked faithfully among 
the dense population of the surrounding country. Not a little of their 
success was due, speaking from a purely secular point of view, to the 
fact that one of these missionaries was a physician, and was enabled 
to win the confidence of the natives by attending to their physical ills. 
Native helpers have been trained, schools have been established and a 
newspaper is published in the interests.of the mission. 

In South Africa the Boers or descendants of Dutch colonists and 
French Huguenots have done much for the Christianizing of the in¬ 
habitants. Wherever the African farmer went he carried his old 
Dutch Bible with him and with it went the spirit of prayer and devotion 
which always has characterized the Dutch nationality. The Boers es¬ 
tablished municipal government and built churches and schoolhouses 
and while they originally were nothing but hunters and tradesmen, still 
they carried with them a spirit of thrift and piety, which has had a 
very wholesome effect on the native population. After long struggles 
with the savages and a wild nature, the Boers established two inde¬ 
pendent republics, which existed until the recent war with England, 
which resulted in their overthrow. They are now organized into a Brit¬ 
ish Colony with their own parliament and colonial government. Chris¬ 
tianity is gradually gaining in Africa and the time is not very far dis¬ 
tant when the Dark Continent will have surrendered to Christ. In fact, 
our religion is making more rapid progress among the child-like, un¬ 
sophisticated natives there than in Asia, where an old civilization and 
philosophical speculation of a mostly assertive nature has rather pre¬ 
disposed the inhabitants for a pantheistic view than for the stern mono¬ 
theism of the Christian religion. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO AND THE SLAVE TRADE. 


How the Slave Trade Originated—Cruelty of the Slave Traders—Efforts to Suppress It— 
Liberia, the Afro-American Republic—Its People and Government—Sacrificing a Child— 
Roasting People Alive—Breaking the Bones of Victims—Adventures of the Cannibals— 
The Value of Female Slaves. 

W HEN Roosevelt landed in Africa the iniquitous slave trade, 
which had flourished for centuries, had long ago been sup¬ 
pressed, and only a faint shadow of its horrors was still hover¬ 
ing over the eastern territories of the continent. The first traces of this 
nefarious trade can be noted as far back as 1619, when slaves were 
brought from the western coast of Africa to Virginia. It is said that the 
first load consisted to 14 blacks. The trade proved profitable and in¬ 
creased from year to year and at present the descendants of these x4fri- 
cfm negroes amount to an eighth of our population. 

This traffic was carried on to such an extent that during the eighteenth 
century more than two million slaves were imported into the Eng¬ 
lish colonies and sold there. In one single year 192 slave-ships carried 
47,146 slaves. This, however, excited a great agitation, and the follow¬ 
ing year, 1772, all slaves in the British dominions were set free. 

The cruelties that characterized the slave-trade are too nerve-racking 
to be told. The following incident told by the famous African explorer, 
Captain Baker and relating to his visit to Fatino, once the headquarters 
of the Central African slave-trade, is quite interesting. 

Baker reached this place before any knowledge of his coming had 
been received by the old slaver, who, therefore, was wholly unprepared 
for his visitor. Baker saw active preparations going on for secreting the 
slaves, but it was too late. The slaver, Abou Laood, greeted him in the 
most cordial manner professing great delight at his visit. Knowing 
what this hypocrisy meant Baker received the address with a similar 
manifestation of friendship. At the same time, however, he desired to 

179 


180 


AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO AND SLAVE TRADE. 


show the slave hunter that he was at the head of a force sufficient to 
put a stop to the nefarious trade. Accordingly he let his regulars en¬ 
gage into a sham battle, and to heighten the effect the band played 
several military airs, which brought thousands of natives to the scene. 
The buglers, cymbals and bass-drums proved irresistable to the Afri¬ 
cans, who are passionately fond of music; and the safest way to travel 
in those wild countries is to play the cornet, if possible without ceasing, 
which would secure a safe passage. An Italian organ grinder would 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL BAKER. 


march through Central Africa, followed by an admiring and enthusiastic 
crowd, who, if his tunes were lively, would form a dancing escort of 
most untiring material. 

DANCING VENUSES. 

As the troops returned to their quarters, with the band playing rather 
lively airs, women were observed running down from their villages, 
and gathering from all directions toward the common center. As they 


AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO AND SLAVE TRADE. 


181 


approached nearer, the charms of music were overpowering, and, halt¬ 
ing for an instant, they assumed the most graceful attitudes, and then 
danced up to the band. In a short time the buglers could hardly blow 
their instruments for laughing at the extraordinary effects of the female 
dancers. A fantastic crowd surrounded them, and every minute added 
to their number. Even the babies were brought out to dance; and these 
infants strapped to their mothers’ backs, and covered with pumpkin 
shells, like young tortoises, were jolted about by their infatuated mothers 
without the slightest consideration for the weakness of their necks. As 
usual among all tribes in Central Africa, the old women were even more 
determined dancers than the young girls. Several old Venuses made 
themselves extremely ridiculous, as they sometimes do in civilized coun¬ 
tries when attempting the allurements of younger days. 

When their king dies his body is slowly roasted on a gigantic gridiron 
over a fire until it resembles an overdone jack-rabbit. It is then wrapped 
in bark-cloths and lies in state until his successor is elected and ascends 
the throne after bloody fights with other pretenders that might last for 
years. An immense pit or trench is now dug, capable of containing sev¬ 
eral hundred people. This den is lined with bark-cloths. The late king’s 
wives are seated at the bottom to receive upon their trembling knees the 
carcass of their departed lord. The previous night the king’s body¬ 
guard surround the dwellings and seize the people indiscriminately as 
they issue from their doors and bring them to the pit’s mouth. Their 
legs and arms are broken with warclubs, and they are pushed into the 
pit on the top of the king’s body and his unfortunate wives. An im¬ 
mense din of drums, horns, flageolets and whistles, mingled with the 
yells of a frantic crowd, drown the shrieks of the sufferers, upon whom 
the earth is shoveled and stamped down by thousands of cruel fanatics, 
who dance and jump upon the loose mould so as to force it into a compact 
mass, through which the victims of their horrid sacrifice cannot grope 
their way. At length the mangled mass is buried and trodden down 
beneath a hummock of earth, and all is still. 

A regular traffic was maintained between the traders of Uganda, 
in which young girls were made the object of barter. A plump, young 
girl was usually sold for a first-class elephant tusk or in some cases 


182 


AFRO-AMERICAN NEGRO AND SLAVE TRADE. 


for a dozen needles and a new shirt. This was termed legitimate trade 
but some slavers took a less expensive way of securing female slaves, for 
they made war on the people, massacred the males and bore away the 
female prisoners as slaves. Slavery of girls was, moreover, encouraged 
by the shameful usuage of fathers selling their daughters to the highest 
bidder, who might use them either as slaves or wives. A large family of 
girls was, therefore, a source of revenue to the father, who disposed 
of them in exchange for trinkets or cows, of which latter usually twelve 
to fifteen are paid for a fine looking young girl. 

Thanks to the efforts of the Christian missionaries and civilized gov¬ 
ernments of Europe and America these vicious practices had ceased 
long before Roosevelt put his foot on the soil where they once had been 
perpetrated. And had they not, we may rest assured that he would at 
once have put a stop to them. 

Vile as the slave trade was it almost seems as if it had been a means 
in the hands of Divine Providence to help lift the Dark Continent out 
of the abyss of savagery and barbarism, for the descendants of the 
former slaves are returning to sow the seed of Christianity and organ¬ 
ized government among their kindred. On the west coast of Africa is the 
little negro republic of Liberia with a coast line of about 300 miles and 
extending 250 miles into the interior, including about 75,000 square miles 
of territory. 

The republic is at present inhabited by about 24,000 descendants of 
American negroes and 1,000,000 native Africans. The government is 
of course in the hands of the former, who speak the English language 
and try to uphold the banner of American civilization among the aborig¬ 
ines, who are divided in many tribes, speaking various dialects, and just 
emerging from the night of barbarism, under the dark shadow of which 
their ancestors not very long ago used to sacrifice children to propitiate 
their angry gods, roast people alive, break the bones of their victims, 
treat their women as slaves, and eat their enemies or captives. The 
torch of Christianity is now.lighting up the darkness and spreading the 
gospel of Love and Wisdom in the former wilderness—thanks to the 
efforts of philanthropic Americans. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

LIVINGSTONE, THE MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


His Education and Early Ambitions—His Thirst for Knowledge—Studies Whole Morning in 
Factory—Intended to Go to China but Was Providentially Directed to Africa—His Ex¬ 
citing Experiences, Thrilling Adventures and Epoch-Making Discoveries in the Dark Con¬ 
tinent. 

A S Roosevelt sat on the deck of the magnificent steamer Hamburg, 
plying its way through the blue waves of the Mediterranean and 
leaving behind him Europe with its memories and ancient civili¬ 
zations he might have been seen re-reading the fascinating life story of 
Livingstone, the great and famous explorer who first opened the Dark 
Continent to advancing civilization. 

Livingstone’s life excels in fascinating interest. It tells us about a 
youth who from his earliest years was inspired with an insatiable thirst 
for knowledge and actuated by high and noble motives. He tells us 
how at the age of ten he was put in a cotton factory to aid by his earnings 
in lessening his mother’s anxiety. With part of his wages he bought 
books, attended an evening school and his m,other often had to snatch 
the books out of his hands to prevent him from spending the whole 
night in studying. His working hours in the factory were from six in the 
morning till eight at night and his reading while at work was carried on 
by placing the book on a portion of the spinning jenny,~so that he could 
catch sentence after sentence as he passed at his work. This enabled him 
to support himself while attending medical and Greek classes in Glas¬ 
gow in winter and divinity lectures in summer. He never received a 
lift from anyone and no doubt should have accomplished his project to 
go to China as a medical missionary by his own efforts, had not friends 
advised him to join the London Missionary Society on account of its un¬ 
sectarian character, which exactly agreed with his ideas, for in his 
own words it “sends neither Episcopacy, nor Presbyterianism, nor Inde¬ 
pendency, but the Gospel of Christ to the heathen.” 

183 


184 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


This society sent him not to China, where the opium war then was 
raging, but to Africa, whose first successful apostle he was destined to 
become. He set sail for the Cape and from this point proceeded to 
Kuruman, the farthest inland station of the Society. Here he stayed 
six months to learn the language of the natives and then continued his 
journey partly on foot, because his oxen were sick, to the valley of 
Mobatsa, which he selected as the site of a missionary station. This 
village was much annoyed by lions and here occurred one of his most 
famous adventures. We let him tell it in his own words: 

“It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others 
take the hint and leave that part of the country. So, the next time the 
herds were attacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them 
to rid themselves of this annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. 
We found the lions on a small hill about a quarter of a mile in length, and 
covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they 
gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. Being down 
below oat the plain with a native school-master, named Mebalwe, a most 
excellent man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the 
now closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, and the 
ball struck the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at the 
spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; then 
leaping away, broke through the circle and escaped unhurt. The men 
were afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in witch¬ 
craft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in it;! 
but we were afraid to fire lest we should strike the men, and they 
allowed these beasts to break through also. If the Bakatla had acted 
according to the custom of the country, they would have speared the 
lions in the attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill one 
of the lions, we bent our footsteps toward the village; in going round the 
end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock 
as before, but this time he had a little bush in front. Being about 
thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and 
fired both barrels into it. The men then called out: ‘He is shot! He is 
shot!’ Others cried: ‘He has been shot by another man, too; let us go 
to him!’ I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw the lion’s 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


185 


tail erected in anger behind the bnsli, and turning to the people, said: 
‘Stop a little, till I load again.’ When in the act of ramming down the 
bullets, I heard a shout. Starting and looking half round, I saw the 
lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height; 
lie caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground be¬ 
low together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a 
terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that 
which seems to be felt by the mouse after the first shake of the cat. It 
caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feel¬ 
ing of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was 
like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe, 
who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition 
was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and 
allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar 
state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora; and if 
so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the 
pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of his weight, as he had 
one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who 
was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a 
flint one, missed fire in both barrels; the lion immediately left me, and 
attacking Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved 
before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear 
the lion while lie was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe and caught this 
man by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets that he had received 
took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few 
moments, and must have been the paroxysms of his dying rage. # * * 
Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds 
in the upper part of my arm.” 

Livingstone had attached himself to a tribe known as the Bakwains, 
whose chief was converted to Christianity. He thought that the mission¬ 
ary’s methods were too slow and recommended whips of rhinoceros hide 
as more effective, which help in evangelizing of course was declined. 
The chief was a polygamist and a noted rain-doctor. But he finally 
consented to send away his many wives and instead of doctoring the 
skies dug an irrigation canal, which supplied the country with all the 


186 LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 



ELEPHANT AND ITS YOUNG. 

water it needed. After having staid there for some time, built school- 
houses and other buildings, and christianized the greater part of the 
tribe Livingstone continued his expedition northward until he discovered 
the shallow and muddy Lake Ngami. 

They witnessed many sights peculiar to this part of the world. One 






























































LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


187 


occurrence that particularly excited their curiosity was the behavior of a 
herd of elephants when drinking at the river. These huge animals would 
play like so many children in the water, throwing great quantities of it 
over each other, and screaming with delight at the fun. On finishing 
their sport and endeavoring to leave the water at a point where the 
bank was quite steep, a comical sight ensued of their desperate struggles 
to get out. The elephants about Ngami, they observed, were much 
smaller than farther south, the variation in height being as much as 
three feet. 

Several new kinds of animals were observed: and manv different 

/ •/ 

species of fish. The natives living along the Zouga are determined 
fishermen, for much of their food is drawn from the water. Thev use 
nets knotted like those of other countries; and also spear the fish 
with javelins having a handle so light that it readily floats on the surface. 
They show great dexterity in harpooning the hippopotamus; and the 
barbed blade of the spear being attached to a rope made of the young 
leaves of the palmyra, the animal cannot rid himself of the canoe, 
attached to him in whale fashion, except by smashing it, which lie fre¬ 
quently does with his teeth or by a stroke of his hind foot. 

Proceeding further to the north he discovered the majestic Zambesi 
River, one of the largest waterways of the world. The country being 
very unhealthy he now sent his wife and children back to England and 
turned his steps alone to the interior. 

His journey was a slow one, delayed as it was by accidents and 
ravages of the Tsetse or fever fly. It was the last day of the year when 
he arrived at Kolobeng. By the middle of January they reached the 
Kalahari desert, but an unusual quantity of rain having fallen they did 
not sutler for water.. Lions and ostriches are numerous in this country. 
Livingstone says of this bird: 

“The ostrich is generally seen quietly feeding on some spot where 
no one can approach him without being detected by his wary eye. As the 
wagon moves far along to the windward he thinks it is intending to cir¬ 
cumvent him, so he rushes up a mile or so from the leeward, and so near 
to the front oxen that one sometimes gets a shot at the silly bird. When 
he begins to run, all the game in sight follows his example. I have seen 


188 LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 

this folly taken advantage of when he was feeding quietly in a valley open 
at both ends. A number of men would commence running, as if to cut 
off his retreat from the end through which the wind came; and although 
he had the whole country hundreds of miles before him by going to the 
other end, on he madly rushed to get past the men, and so was speared. 
He never swerves from the course he once adopts, but only increases 
his speed. 



OSTRICH HUNTING IN THE DESERT. 


“When the ostrich feeds, his pace is from twenty to twenty-two 
inches; when walking, but not feeding, it is twenty-six inches; and when 
terrified, as in the case noticed, it is from eleven and a half to thirteen 
and even fourteen feet in length. Only in one case was I at all satisfied 
of being able to count the rate of speed by a stop-watch, and if I am not 
mistaken, there were thirty in ten seconds; generally one’s eye can no 
more follow the legs than it can the spokes of a carriage-wheel in rapid 
motion. If we take the above number, and twelve feet stride as the aver¬ 
age pace, we have a speed of twenty-six miles an hour. It cannot be very 























LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


189 


much above that, and is therefore slower than a railway locomotive. 
They are sometimes shot by a horseman making a cross cut to their unde¬ 
viating course, but few Englishmen ever succeed in killing them.” 

In May he arrived at Linganti, the capital of Makololo, where he 
was taken with the fever. Anxious to try the native cure for this disease 
he gave himself up to the treatment of one of the Makololo doctors. Of 
the result he says: “After being stewed in their vapor baths, smoked like 
a red herring over green twigs, and charmed secundum artem, I con¬ 
cluded that I could cure the fever much quicker than they. ’ ’ He offered 
to teach them to read but they declined alleging that it might make them 
content with one wife like other converts to Christianity. 

After remaining at Linyanti for about a month, Livingstone set out 
to ascend the river, Sekeletu, who had volunteered to accompany him, 
being-his companion, together with about one hundred and sixty of his 
tribe. They traveled on land for some distance, but finally took to the 
canoes, of which thirty-three were required for the transportation of 
their party. 

The river was one which had never been explored by a white man 
thus far from the coast; and Livingstone could not sufficiently admire 
its grandeur. Along the banks were villages and fields which gave evi¬ 
dence of an industrious and prosperous people. They met with no 
particular difficulties in the ascent except at the cataract of Gouye, where 
the canoes had to be carried overland for more than a mile. The river 
was sufficiently high to make it possible to pass the rapids without 
portage. 

Their journey, however, was not attended by any special adventure 
until they reached Njambi, a village of the Chiboque. They arrived 
here on Saturday, and the missionary expected to spend the ensuing 
Sunday in talking to the people. But his expectations were not fulfilled. 
The chief refused the gift of the hump and ribs of an ox which Living¬ 
stone had killed, and demanded that the traveler should present him 
with a man, an ox, or a gun. Oxen they had none to spare; of guns 
they had but five; and the missionary had no notion of leaving one cf 
his faithful servants in slavery. The young Chiboque brandished their 
weapons threateningly, but Livingstone was firm. He declared that 


190 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


lie and his people would not strike the first blow, but that if attacked 
they would defend themselves. 

“It was rather trying for me, because I knew that the Chiboque 
would aim at the white man first ; but I was careful not to appear flur¬ 
ried, and, having four barrels ready for instant action, looked quietly 
at the savage scene around. * * * The chiefs and counselors, seeing 
that they were in more danger than I, did not choose to follow our 
decision that they should begin by striking the first blow, and then see 
what we could do, and were perhaps influenced by seeing the air of 
cool preparation which some of my men displayed, and the prospect 
of a work of blood.” 

A compromise was finally effected, and the party passed on. But 
their experience here was only an earnest of what would await them in 
the country to the west. 

In the meantime his Makolnlo attendants improved the time by 
becoming acquainted with the wonders of European architecture. They 
had been unable to comprehend how a house could be two stories high; 
since their huts are made by sticking the poles in the ground so as to 
form a cone, and covering that with skins or thatch, they could not 
understand how the poles for the second story were provided with a 
foundation, or what use the second floor would be, with the peak of the 
lower hut projecting above its floor. One of them, who had seen Liv¬ 
ingstone’s house at Kolobeng, described it as a mountain with several 
caves in it. Now, however, they all understood this much. The Eng¬ 
lish vessels in port were another source of wonder; and they gravely 
pronounced these “towns;” designating them particularly as “towns 
that you climb into with a rope.” The statement that these vessels, 
with their huge guns, were used to put down the slave-trade, afforded 
the poor creatures unalloyed gratification. 

Some of the difficulties of traveling through an African forest are 
succinctly stated in the following lines: 

“We pushed on through forests abounding in climbing plants, many 
of which are so extremely tough that a man is required to go in front 
with a hatchet; and when the burdens of the carriers are caught, they 
are obliged to cut the climbers with their teeth, for no amount of tug- 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


191 


ging will make them break. The paths in all these forests are so 
zig-zag that a person may imagine he has traveled a distance a thirty 
miles, which, when reckoned as the crow flies, may not be fifteen.” 

During this journey Livingstone suffered from twenty-seven at¬ 
tacks of fever and, therefore, was glad to at last arrive at Libonta, 
where he and his party were particularly cordially received; for they 
were looked upon as men risen from the dead; the most skilful diviners 
having long before declared that they had perished. The missionary’s 
means, acquired in Loanda, had all been spent, during a journey in 
which many delays had occurred, but this made no difference to the 
natives whose love had been won long before. They knew that Liv- 



HIPPOrOTAMI, 


ingstone had been engaged in an effort to open the country to trade, and 
to suppress the slave-trade, and that was enough for them. Even Liv¬ 
ingstone’s men said: ‘‘Though we return as poor as we went, we have 
not gone in vain.” 

One of the adventures of the party shortly after they left Libonta, 
is worth recording, as a characteristic accident: 

“I left Naliele on the 13th of August, and when proceeding along 
the shore at midday, a hippopotamus struck the canoe with her fore¬ 
head, lifting one-half of it quite out of the water, so as nearly to overturn 
it. The force of the butt she gave tilted Mashauana out into the river; 
the rest of us sprang to the shore, which was only about ten yards off. 









192 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


Glancing back, I saw her come to the surface a short way off, and look 
at the canoe, as if to see if she had done much mischief. It was a 
female, whose young one had been speared the day before. No damage 
was done except wetting person and goods. This is so unusual an 
occurrence, when the precaution is taken to coast along the shore, that 
my men exclaimed: ‘Is the beast mad!’ There were eight of us in the 
canoe at the time, and the shake it received shows the immense power 
of this animal in the water.” 

Long before this, Livingstone had heard that a party of Matabele 
had brought a number of parcels to the south bank of the Zambesi, and 
left them there in the care of the Makololo. The two tribes are sworn 
enemies, and the Makololo would not believe that Mr. Moffat had sent 
these goods to Dr. Livingstone, as the bearers told them. The Matabele 
answered: 

“Here are the goods; we place them now before you, and if you 
leave them to perish the guilt will be yours.” 

After much divination, and with fear and trembling, the Makololo, 
who feared some attempt to bewitch them, built a hut over the parcels, 
and there Livingstone found them safe on his return in September, 
1855, exactly a year after they reached that destination. Among other 
things, there was a copy of an address by Sir Roderick Murchison before 
the Royal Geographical Society, in which he stated his conviction that 
the interior of Africa was not a vast plateau, but a vast basin, flanked 
by mountains and highlands. This was the very same conclusion to 
which Livingstone had come, although with infinitely more difficulty: 

“In his easy-chair he had forestalled me by three years, though I 
had been working hard through jungle, marsh, and fever, and since the 
light dawned upon my mind at Dilolo, had been cherishing the pleasing 
idea that I should be the first to suggest the idea that the interior of 
Africa was a watery plateau of less elevation than flanking hilly ranges. ’' 

From this point they went directly to Linyanti, where the men who 
had accompanied him were at last able to tell their own people of the 
wonderful things that they had seen. They had gone to the end of the 
world, and had only turned back when there was no more land. 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


193 


Escorted by Sekeletu and his followers as far as the island of Ivalai, 
two days’ journey below the mouth of the Chobe, he determined to visit 
the great cataract of the Zambesi to which he has given an English 
name—Victoria Falls: 

‘ ‘ Of these we had often heard since we came into the country; indeed, 
one of the questions asked by Sebituane was, ‘Have you smoke that 
sounds in your country?’ They did not go near enough to examine 
them, but viewing them with awe at a distance, said, in reference to 
the vapor and noise, ‘Mosi oa tuny a’ (smoke does sound there). It was 
previously called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascertain. 
The word for a pot resembles this, and it may mean a seething caldron, 
but I am not certain of it. Being persuaded that Mr. Oswell and myself 
were the very first Europeans who ever visited the Zambesi in the 
center of the country, and that this is the connecting link between the 
known and the unknown portions of that river, I decided to use the 
same liberty as the Makololo did, and gave the only English name I 
have affixed to any part of the country. * * * * After twenty min¬ 
utes’ sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first timie, of the columns 
of vapor appropriately caked ‘smoke,’ rising at a distance of five or 
six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. 
Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they 
seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees; the tops of the 
columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They 
were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate smoke 
very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful; the banks and 
islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of 
great variety of color and form* * * * * The falls are bounded on 
three sides by ridges 300 or 400 feet in height, which are covered with 
forest, the red soil appearing among the trees. * * * I did not 

comprehend it until, creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into 
a large rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zam¬ 
besi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a 
hundred feet and then became suddenly compressed into a space of 
fifteen or twenty yards. # * * On the left side of the island we 

had a good view of the mass of water which causes one of the columns 


194 


LIVINGSTONE, MISSIONARY AND EXPLORER. 


of vapor to ascend, as it leaps quite clear of the rock, and forms a thick 
unbroken fleece all the way to the bottom. Its whiteness gave the idea 
of snow, a sight I have not seen for many a day. As it broke into (if I 
may use the term) pieces of water, all rushing on in the same direction, 
each gave off several rays of foam, exactly as bits of steel, when burned 
in oxygen gas, give off rays of sparks. The snow-white sheet seemed 
like myriads of small comets rushing on in one direction, each of which 
left behind its nucleus rays of foam. I never saw the appearance re¬ 
ferred to noticed elsewhere. It seemed to be the effect of the mass of 
water leaping at once clear of the rock, and but slowly breaking up 
into spray.” 

It was nearly the end of November when Sekeletu parted from him 
and returned home; Livingstone then turned toward the north, and 
traveled for a few days over a beautiful but uninhabited district. There 
was a great abundance of game here, and on several occasions the lions 
approached unpleasantly close to their camp, but did no damage. 

They had just passed Zumbo when the traveling procession was in¬ 
terrupted in a manner that is well worth description: 

“Tsetse and the hills had destroyed two riding oxen, and when the 
little one that I now rode knocked up, I was forced to mjarch on foot. 
The bush being very dense and high, we were going along among the 
trees, when three buffaloes, which we had unconsciously passed above 
the wind, thought that they were surrounded by men, and dashed 
through our line. My ox set off at a gallop; and when I could manage 
to glance back, I saw one of the men up in the air about five feet above 
a buffalo, which was tearing along with a stream of blood running down 
his flank. When I got back to the poor fellow, I found that he had 
lighted on his face, and though he had been carried about twenty yards 
on the horns of the buffalo before getting the final toss, his skin was 
not pierced nor was a bone broken. When the beasts appeared, he had 
thrown down his load and stabbed one in the side. It turned suddenly 
upon him, and before he could use a tree for defense, carried him off. 
We shampooed him well, and in about a week he was able to engage in 
the hunt again.” 


CHAPTER XVII. 

LIVINGSTONE'S SECOND JOURNEY THROUGH AFRICA 

The Expedition to the Zambesi River—Livingstone and his Makololo—The Elephant Marshes 
—To the Great Lake—Hippopotamus Trap—The Great Unwashed—Lake Nyassa—Ascent 
of Zambesi—Insolent Ferrymen—The Victoria Falls—“The White Man Must Be Saved” 
—Freeing Slaves—Heart Rending Stories—Slave Hunters’ Escape—A Desolated Country 
—Robbed— Arrival of Slaves. 

D URING- the course of his first journey Livingstone had become 
thoroughly well acquainted with the slave-trade as carried on 
in the interior of Africa. He believed the great remedy for the 
existing evil would be the opening up of the country to commerce; if 
the tribes of the interior could trade directly with the white man, and 
exchange their ivory and other articles of produce for the cloths and 
manufactured goods which they covet, there would be no temptation, 
for them to capture slaves and trade them for these desired articles. 
It was for this reason that, having failed to find a suitable place for the 
establishment of a missionary station, he gave up that idea, and made 
his way across the continent to Loanda, and then back again to the 
mouth of the Zambesi. Returning to England, his narrative of the time 
which he had spent in Africa aroused men to a longing to increase the 
missionary aid sent to that continent. 

But Livingstone had advanced beyond the position of a missionary; 
his views had broadened so that he was no longer content to spend his 
days in one place, teaching the people around him; he was eager and 
anxious to put down the slave-trade, by showing the people who supplied 
the market that a more lucrative business could be established in the 
development of the agricultural and mineral resources of their country. 
The government and the Royal Geographical Society lent him their 
heartiest aid; and the expedition to the Zambesi was undertaken very 
soon after his return to England. 


195 


196 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


Livingstone was made consul, which, of course, gave this undertak¬ 
ing a semi-national character, and enabled him to deal with other 
powers to much better advantage. The most liberal provision was 
made in the way of supplies, which even included a small steam-launch, 
named the “Ma-Robert.” This was sent out from England in sections, 
and put together at the mouth of the Zambesi. 


KAFFIR KRAAL. 



Dr. Livingstone s brother, Rev. Charles Livingstone, who had been 
living for some years in the United States, was a member of the expedi¬ 
tion ; also Dr. Kirk, the celebrated botanist. They left England March 
10, 1858, and reached the mouth of the Zambesi in May. Their instruc- 





























LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


197 


tions were to extend the knowledge already attained of tlie geography 
and mineral and agricultural resources of Eastern and Central 'Africa; 
to improve their acquaintance with the inhabitants, and to endeavor to 
engage them to apply themselves to industrial pursuits and to the culti¬ 
vation of their lands will a view to the production of raw materials to 
be exported to England in return for British manufactures. Their first 
object was to explore the Zambesi, its mouths and tributaries, with a 



SLAVES AND THEIK HARDSHIPS. 


view to their being used as highways for commerce and Christianity to 
pass into the vast interior of Africa. They entered the River Luawe 
first, because its entrance is so smooth and deep that the vessel could 
easily go in without a boat sounding ahead. Here the Ma-Robert was 
screwed together, and launched as the proper vessel for these coast 
explorations. 

They found the Luawe unnavigable at a short distance above its 
mouth, by reason of the vegetable matter in the channel; after ascend- 







198 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


ing about seventy miles, it ended in a marsh, being only a tidal river 
after all. They now resolved to try the East Luabo, as the main stream 
of the Zambesi is called. This proved to be the river which they sought, 
although it was not then known that the Zambesi has four separate 
mouths. 

The Pearl, the vessel in which they had come from England, accom¬ 
panied the Ma-Robert as far as the Island of Simbo; when finding that 
the river was becoming too shallow for her draught (9 feet 7 inches) 
she steamed down the river, after having landed the goods belonging 
to the expedition on a small island; and the expedition to the Zambesi 
was fairly launched on its independent career. 

The country around the mouth of the Zambesi had long been in the 
possession of the Portuguese; but their maps of it had been anything 
but reliable. It is charged that they had represented the Quillimane as 
the true mouth of the Zambesi, in order to promote and protect the slave 
trade; if the British vessels, and those of other nations, sent out to 
watch for slavers, could be persuaded to keep a close lookout on the 
Quillimane, as the outlet of the Zambesi, the slavers could readily sail 
down the true Zambesi and get safely out to sea before they should be 
discovered. Be this as it may, it is certain that one official Portuguese 
map had the mouth of the Mazaro, a narrow creek which in time of 
flood communicates with the Quillimane, as the point at which the Zam¬ 
besi began to discharge its waters into the more northern river. As a 
fact, this creek is some six or eight feet above the level of the Zambesi, 
except, as mentioned, during periods of very high water. 

Arrived at the mouth of this creek, the members of the expedition 
found that they had run into a veritable hornets’ nest. A half-caste 
named Mariano or Matakenya had built a stockade near the mouth of 
the Shire, and carried on his trade as a slave-hunter. So long as he con¬ 
fined his depredations to the tribes of the interior, the indignation of 
the Portuguese settlers was not aroused; but he was allowed to send 
his kidnaped victims in chains to Quillimane, thence to be sent to the 
French Island of Bourbon. But as soon as Mariano began to practice 
violence on the people nearer at hand, under the very guns of the fort, 
the whites began to protest. Mariano paid no attention; and Dr. Liv- 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


199 



A ZULU DINNER PARTY. 

limane to “arrange” with the governor. Bat that official was of a dif¬ 
ferent stamp from most of his predecessors; and clapped the atrocious 
murderer into prison. When the English explorers came into the coun¬ 
try, Mariano’s brother, Bonga, was at the head of the rebel forces; and 
the contest was waging fiercely. 

The fact that they were Englishmen proved to both parties at once 
what were their opinions regarding the slave trade; yet they were re¬ 
garded as friends by Bonga’s forces as well as by the Portuguese. On 


ingstone was told, by a gentleman of the highest standing, that it was 
no uncommon occurrence for a slave to rush into the room where the 
informant’s family -was at dinner, pursued by one of Mariano’s men 
with spear in hand to murder him. 

War was declared against Mariano, and a force was sent to take 
him. He resisted for a time; but knowing that Portuguese governors 
have small salaries, and are amenable to bribery, he went down to Quil- 













































200 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


more than one occasion, they were almost in the midst of a fight; but 
happily escaped unharmed, and able to preserve their neutrality. 

The right bank of the Zambesi is held by the Landeens or Zulus, to 
whom the Portuguese pay a pretty heavy annual tribute. Regularly 
every year the Zulus come to Senna and Shupanga to collect this tribute, 
which is really paid by the few wealthy merchants of Senna. They 
submit to pay two hundred pieces (sixteen yards each) of cloth, besides 
beads and brass wire, etc., to secure themselves from being plundered 
in war. The Zulu is like the Irish landlord of tradition; the more his 
tenants cultivate, the higher tribute he demands. On asking some of 
the Portuguese why they did not try to raise certain highly profitable 
products, the Englishmen received this characteristic reply: 

“What’s the use of our cultivating any more than we do? The Lan¬ 
deens would only come down on us for more tribute.” 

They arrived at Tette Sept. 8, and Dr. Livingstone at once went 
ashore. He was received by the Makololo with the most affecting joy; 
tempered with a ludicrous respect for his new clothes. Some were 
hastening to embrace him; when others cried out: 

“Don’t touch him; you will spoil his new clothes.” 

LIVINGSTONE AND HIS MAKOLOLOS. 

Dr. Livingstone had heard, while he was in England, that his Mako- 
lolos who had not returned to their own country were to receive from 
the Portuguese government a sufficient support; but he found now that 
no such rumor had ever reached Africa; they had been given hoes and 
land sufficient for gardens by a generous officer of that government, but 
it had been a gift paid for out his own pocket; and they had maintained 
themselves by means of these gardens, and by cutting and selling wood. 
These now readily attached themselves to the expedition; and the leader 
was omv too glad to have assistants whose faithfulness had been tried. 

Ascending the river, they carefully examined the Ivebrabasa Rapids. 
After making their way seven or eight miles up through the swift cur¬ 
rent, they saw that this was not feasible until they knew what was to 
come next; and anchoring the little steamer below the rapids, proceeded 
to ascend the bank of the stream on foot. The stones upon the path 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


201 


were so liot that the soles of the Makololo’s feet were blistered; but 
still they continued to advance. The Makololo told Dr. Livingstone 
that they had always thought that he had a heart, but that now they 
knew he had none; and appealed to Dr. Kirk to return, since the leader 
must have gone mad before he determined to go where no living foot 
could tread. Unfortunately for the Makololo, Dr. Kirk did not under¬ 
stand a word of their language; and Dr. Livingstone, knowing him to 
be as anxious as himself to explore the Kebrabasa, did not think it worth 
while to translate. 

At last, however, they arrived at the cataract of Morumba, which 
is a sloping fall of about twenty feet in thirty yards. It is sufficient to 
stop all navigation except in the highest floods, when the river some¬ 
times rises eighty feet above the level of the dry season. 

They retraced their footsteps, then; although not exactly over the 
same path; they crossed Mount Morumba, which rises very near the 
fall, and camped on its side the first night of their return journey. As 
their guide had told them, the people were very ready to sell them pro¬ 
visions as long as they appeared to be leaving the country; in fact the 
ignorant people manifested the most unreasoning opposition to an ex¬ 
pedition the objects of which were beyond their comprehension. The 
story is told that shortly after their departure from Tette, the river 
rose a foot and became turbid. A native Portuguese went to the gov¬ 
ernor with a grave face and complained that that Englishman was 
“doing something to the river.” 

Finding that it was impossible to take their steamer of only ten- 
liorse-power through Kebrabasa, and convinced that, in order to force 
a passage when the river was in flood, much greater power was required, 
due information was forwarded to her majesty’s government, and ap¬ 
plication made for a more suitable vessel. In the mean time, they turned 
their attention to the River Shire, a northern tributary of the Zambesi, 
which joins it about a hundred miles from the sea. The Portuguese 
could tell them nothing concerning this stream, except that it was cov¬ 
ered with a mass of aquatic plants, which they pronounced impassable. 
They received a hint, however, that it was not the duckweed, but the 
hostility of the natives which had caused the one Portuguese expedition 


202 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


for the exploration of this river to return without making any consid¬ 
erable progress. 

Their first trip to the Shire was in January, 1859. A considerable 
quantity of duckweed floated on the river for the first twenty-five miles, 
but not enough to obstruct navigation. They met with the first obstruc¬ 
tion at the village of a chief named Tingane. This chief had always 
been the barrier to all intercourse between the Portuguese black traders 
and the natives farther inland; but on the explorers telling him that 
they had come neither to take slaves nor to fight, but only to open up a 
path by which their countrymen might come to purchase cotton or any¬ 
thing else that he had to sell (except slaves) he became at once quite 
friendly, and the men who had been dodging behind trees to take aim 
at the strangers with their poisoned arrows, came out and listened to 
the words of the missionary. 

They ascended the Shire for a distance of about one hundred miles 
from its mouth; although the windings of the river are such that this 
distance represents about two hundred miles of actual travel. At this 
point, their further progress was stopped by the rapids, the first of 
which was named by them Murchison Falls. During the time that they 
were ascending the river, the natives kept a strong guard on the bank, 
night and day; apparently distrusting the strangers. The general 
opinion which the natives of this portion of Africa entertain in regard 
to white men does not speak well for the Portuguese, the first whites 
with whom they became acquainted. 

THE ELEPHANT MARSHES. 

A second trip up the Shire was begun about the middle of March. 
Thanks to their conciliating behavior on the previous journey, they 
found the natives extremely well disposed toward them. Leaving the 
banks of the river about ten miles below the falls, Drs. Livingstone and 
Kirk, with a number of Makololo, started on foot for Lake Shirwa. They 
traveled in a northerly direction over a mountainous country, among 
people who did not seem to be well-disposed, and with guides who were 
far from being trustworthy. This unreliability was partly due to their 
ignorance of the country and the language; they asked to be led to 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


203 


“Nyanja Mukulu,” or Great Lake, meaning thereby Lake Shirwa; but 
* 

since the word Nyanja, or Nyanza, means a lake, river, marsh, or even 
a rivulet, the guides did not clearly understand them, and conducted 
them to the Great Elephant Marsh. 

From this point, the party pressed on without guides, or with crazy 
ones. Regarding these, Dr. Livingstone says: 

“They were often under great obligations to the madmen of the 
different villages; one of these honored them, as they slept in the open 



IN IUE GREAT ELEPHANT MARSH. 

air, by dancing and singing at their feet the whole night. These poor 
fellows sympathized with the explorers, probably in the belief that they 
belonged to their own class; and uninfluenced by the general opinion of 
their countrymen, they really pitied, and took kindly to the strangers, 
and often guided them faithfully from place to place, when no sane man 

could be hired for love or money.” 

The perseverance of the party was finally crowned with success; 
for on April 18 they discovered Lake Shirwa, a body of bitter water, 
having no outlet, and containing leeches, fish, crocodiles and hippo¬ 
potami. Their point of view was at the base of Mount Pirimiti or 
Mopeupeu, on its south-southwest side. Thence the prospect north- 



204 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


Ward ended in a sea horizon with two small islands, in the distance; a 
larger one, resembling a hill-top and covered with trees, rose more in 
the foreground. Ranges of hills appeared on the east, and on the west 
stood Mount Chikala. The shore, near which they spent two nights, was 
covered with reeds and papyrus. 

From the people living near the lake, they gathered that there was 
a much larger one to the north, separated from Shirwa only by a tongue 
of land. But they considered that enough had been done for one expedi¬ 
tion ; it would be better to return from this point, and, having gained the 
confidence of the natives as far as this, make another trip for the explora¬ 
tion of countries beyond. They accordingly went back to their vessel 
on the Shire. 

They reached Tette June 23, and from that point proceeded to the 
Kongone for the necessary repairs upon their vessel. They again 
ascended the Zambesi in August, and about the middle of that month 
reached the mouth of the Shire, which they proposed to ascend once 
more, and make, from the head of navigation, an overland trip to Lake 

Nvassa. 

•» 

HIPPOPOTAMUS TRAPS. 

They found the banks lined with hippopotamus traps; for the ani¬ 
mals were evidently very plentiful, if the tracks on the bank were any 
guide. The hippopotamus feeds only on land, and crops the grass as 
short and even as a mowing machine. The trap consists of a beam five 
or six feet long, armed with a spear-head or liard-wood spike, covered 
with poison, and suspended from an overhanging branch by a cord, 
which, coming down to the path, is held by a catch, to be set free when 
the brute treads on it. Being wary beasts, they are very numerous, 
even where these traps are plentiful. One got frightened by the ship 
as she was steaming close to the bank. In its eager hurry to escape it 
rushed on shore, and ran directly under a trap, when down came the 
heavily weighted beam on its back, driving the poisoned spear-liead a 
foot deep into its flesh. In its agony it plunged back into the river, to 
die in a few hours, and afterwards furnished a feast for the natives. 
The poison on the spear-head affects only that part of the flesh which 


LIVINGSTONE'S SECOND JOURNEY. 


205 


is directly around the wound, and this is always thrown away. In some 
places the descending wood is weighted with heavy stones, but in others 
the hard, heavy wood needs no extra weight. 

As they passed the neighborhood of the Great Elephant Marsh, they 
saw many elephants; but these sagacious animals soon learned that the 



NATIVES HUNTING AN ELEPHANT. 


puffing monster was a thing to be avoided, and fled in terror before the 
approach of the steamer. They succeeded, however, in catching a fine 
young elephant alive, as he was climbing up the bank to follow his dam; 
but after he was drawn on board, he was wounded by one of the men, 
and died in a few days. 

They left ship August 28, 1859, for the discovery of Lake Nyassa. 
The party numbered four whites, thirty-six Makololo, and two guides. 
















































206 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


The party was unnecessarily large, but it was thought that the strength 
of numbers would prevent attack from natives inclined to be hostile, and 
command respect from others. For the same reason, each one carried 
a musket, although many of the Makololo had never drawn a trigger. 
They were a week in crossing the highlands in a northerly direction; 
and having reached the Upper Shire valley, some 1200 feet above the 
sea-level, they were detained for some days by the sickness of one of 
the white men. 

They found that the natives of this region were considerably ad¬ 
vanced, in respect to their manufactures. They weave cotton cloth, by 
painfully slow processes; make pottery, and dig the iron ore out of the 
hills and make it into good axes', spears, needles, arrow-heads, bracelets, 
and anklets. Every village has its charcoal-burners, its smelting-house, 
and its blacksmiths. They weave neat baskets from split bamboos, and 
make fish-nets of a plant-fiber from their hills. 

THE GREAT UNWASHED. 

These people, judging from the old men and women who came to 
look on the white men, are generally long-lived; but they do not owe 
their longevity to cleanliness; an old man told them that he remembered 
to have washed once in his life, but it was so long ago that he had for¬ 
gotten how it felt. They were much annoyed by one man, who persisted 
in preceding them from village to village and proclaiming that they had 
wandered; that they did not know where they were going. Persuasions 
and remonstrances were alike in vain; finally, he was informed that 
they were going to take him down to the river and wash him; he dis¬ 
appeared and was seen no more. 

The language here was so unlike those dialects with which Dr. Liv¬ 
ingstone was acquainted, that they were obliged to have recourse to an 
interpreter. This man, Masakasa, had an unbounded faith in anything 
that was said in a book; on one occasion, this faith served them well. 
The natives had persistently asserted that there was no such lake as 
that of which they were in search; but Masakasa knew that the lake was 
mentioned in a book, and grew indignant accordingly. 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


207 


“There is a lake,” said he to the natives, “for how could the white 
men know about it in a book if it did not exist?” 

Then they admitted that there was a lake; and were probably not a 
little impressed by the white man’s magical knowledge of things he had 
never seen. They pressed on, and discovered Lake Nyassa a little before 
noon of September 16, 1859. They could make out that there were hills 
on both sides of the lake, looking from their point of view at the southern 
end; but the haze from burning grass prevented their seeing very far. 
They learned afterward that they preceded a German explorer, Dr. 
Roscher, by about two months in the discovery of this lake. The only 
results of his discovery, however, were told in the depositions of his 
servants after they arrived at the Cape; for he was murdered by the 
natives shortly after reaching the lake. 

THE SLAVE TRADE. 

They were now among the Ajawa, who furnished a large number of 
slaves to the market, and are more debased in this traffic than most 
other tribes, since they sell each other. The chief with whom they re¬ 
monstrated seemed ashamed of selling his own people, but apologized 
by saying that he sold only those who were bad. The party made but a 
shoft stay at Lake Nyassa, being, as usual, anxious to persuade the 
natives that they had no other object in view than to see the country. 
After a land-journey of forty days, they returned to the vessel October 
6. It was necessary to send two of their number across the country from 
the Shire to Tette; and Dr. Kirk and Mr. Rae, the engineer, undertook 
the journey. But during their absence, the vessel began to leak so 
badly that they were obliged to go to the Kongone again for repairs. 
The steel plates were defective, and had been damaged by some chem¬ 
ical action shortly after the vessel was launched, so that they were full 
of minute holes. It leaked so badly that they were frequently compelled 
to mop up the cabin floor, and the engines proved so unsatisfactory that 
the Ma-Robert was re-christened the “Asthmatic.” Returning from 
the sea, it was nearly the end of April, 1860, before they again reached 
Tette. 


208 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY , 


ASCENT OF ZAMBESI. 

As they proceeded up the Zambesi toward the country of the Mako- 
lolo, they found that many of the Makololo, who had descended the river 
with Dr. Livingstone in 1856, deserted them; the reason of this was, that 
these men had formed new ties in Tette, marrying slave-wives; they 
could not take their wives or children with them, and gradually deserted 
the party until all who had married in Tette had left. Yet at setting 



CRUELTY OF SLAVE TRADERS. 


out, they had declared that they wished to return to their own country. 

They of course left the Asthmatic below, as she could not ascend the 
Ivebrabasa; this was no matter of regret to the Makololo who had been 
compelled to cut the wood for her fires on the former journeys. One of 
them laughingly exclaimed in broken English: 


































LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


209 


“Oh, Kebrabasa good, very good; no let sbippee up to Sekeletu, 
too mucbee work, cuttee woodyee, cuttee woodyee; Kebrabasa good.” 

They arrived at the Cbicova plains, the level country above the 
Kebrabasa bills, June 7, and at Zumbo, on the left bank of the Loanwa, 
on the 26th. Here they bad some difficulty in getting ferried across the 
river; the ferrymen were all tipsy, and did not come when they were 
expected. Having a waterproof cloak, which could be inflated into a 
small boat, they sent one of their attendants across in this improvised 
canoe. At the summons thus delivered, three men brought them the 
shaky canoes, lashed together. Five men were all that could be taken 
at a trip; and after four trips, the ferrymen began to clamor for drink. 
The travelers bad none to give; and they became insolent, declaring 
that not another man should cross that day. One of the Makololo began 
to remonstrate with them, when a loaded musket was joresented at him 
by one of the trio. In an instant the gun was out of the rascal’s bands, 
a rattling shower of blows fell on his back, and be took an involuntary 
header into the river. He crawled ujd the bank a sad and sober man,, 
and all three fell at once from the height of saucy swagger to a low depth 
of slavish abjectness. The musket was found to have an enormous 
charge, and might have blown the Makololo to pieces but for the promp¬ 
titude with which bis companions administered justice in a lawless band. 
They were all ferried safely across the river by eight o’clock in the 
evening. 

On the 4tb of August they reached Moachemba, the first of the 
Batoka villages which then owed allegiance to Sekeletu. From this 
point, they could see distinctly, with the naked eye, the columns of vapor 
rising from Victoria Falls, although the cataract was twenty miles 
away. Here they learned that many of the Makololo had been regarded 
as dead, not having been heard of since they accompanied Dr. Living¬ 
stone to the sea. They also learned that a recent effort to establish a 
missionary station at Linyanti had proved a failure and been abandoned. 
On the 9th, they set out to visit the falls, in the canoes of a native named 
Tuba Mokoro, who was said to possess the best “medicine” for ensuring 
safety in the rapids above the falls. This important personage forbade 
all talking while in the canoes, as it might impair the power of the medi- 


210 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


cine; and tlie white men, fearing to distract the steersman’s attention 
when it might be critically necessary for him to attend to his business, 
obeyed unhesitatingly. They found that the hippopotami had trodden 
down the fruit trees which Dr. Livingstone had planted on his previous 
visit; and now erected a strong hedge for protection to newly sown 
seeds. There was not much hope, however, but what the same animals 
would break down the hedge. 


LEPROSY. 

Arriving at the town of Sekeletu, they found that, as they had been 
told, the chief was afflicted with the leprosy. He had been treated by 
several different doctors of his own tribe, and was now under the care ' 
of an aged negress who had come from some distance especially to take 
this case. Sekeletu, however, insisted upon placing himself at once 
under the care of the white doctor; and Drs. Livingstone and Kirk gave 
him the best remedies, internal and external, that their store of medi¬ 
cines afforded. He considered that his disease was the result of en¬ 
chantment practiced by one of his enemies, and could not be persuaded 
otherwise. It was the opinion of his white physicians that the disease 
was rather due to the inordinate quantities of matokwane, or Indian 
hemp, which he smoked; and they could hardly induce him to give it up 
while he was under their treatment. 

They found, indeed, that many of the natives are slaves of this 
pernicious habit, which makes the smokers feel strong in body, but 
weakens and finally destroys the mind. Both men and women indulge 
freely in its use; although the-men do not like their wives to follow their 
own example, and sometimes forbid it entirely. 

Dr. Livingstone determined now to go to Linyanti, in order to pro¬ 
cure some medicines and other articles which lie had left there in his 
wagon, eight years before. He found them, all intact, and the wagon in 
fairly good condition, although the cover was, as might be expected, 
very rotten. The people inquired affectionately after “Ma-Robert” 
and her children, and asked why he had not brought them. 

“Are we never more to know anything of them but their names?” 
asked the affectionate creatures, whose love had been won years before. 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


211 


Returning to Shesheke by a trip which required three days, the party 
left that point September 17, 1860, taking with them a number of Mako- 
lolo who were to return with additional medicines for Sekeletu. The 
path now pursued was a little nearer the river than that by which they 
had come, in order to see Ivalunda and the Moamba Falls. They passed 
over a rugged country, with many hills and perennial streams, of which 
the Sindi was the finest for irrigation. They encamped on the Kolorno 
on the 1st of October; and on the 5th, after crossing some hills, rested 
at the village of Simariango. 



LANDING OF THE EXPLORERS ON THE ZAMBESI. 


A considerable part of their journey eastward was made by water; 
and in at least one instance, their attendants showed their faithfulness. 
Entering the narrow gorge called Karivua, the huge waves of the mid¬ 
current began at once to fill the canoes. With great presence of mind,, 
and without the least hesitation, two m£n lightened each by jumping 
overboard; they then ordered a Batoka to do the same. 





















212 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND IOURNEY. 


“I cannot swim,” he replied. 

“Jump out, then, and hold on to the canoe,” they answered him; 
“for the white men must be saved.” 

Swimming alongside, they guided the swamping canoes down the 
swift current to the foot of the rapid, and then ran them ashore to bale 
them out. Thanks to the bravery of these poor fellows, nothing was 
lost, although everything was well soaked. A few hundred yards 
brought them to another rapid; but as this was worse than the first 
the canoes had to be unloaded, and the goods carried about a hundred 
vards. 

They continued their voyage down the river, not leaving their canoes 
until they arrived at Ivebrabasa; here their bearers complained much 
about having to carry the goods, and wished that they had tried the 
rapids. This difficulty over, they reached Tette early on the morning of 
the 23rd of November, having been absent a little over six months. The 
Zambesi being unusually low, they remained at Tette till it rose a little, 
and then left on the 3rd of December for the Kongone. Here their vessel 
was laid up for repairs; but the attempt was useless. New leaks broke 
out every day; the engine-pump gave way; the bridge broke down; three 
compartments filled at night. On the morning of the 21st the vessel 
grounded on a sandbank and filled; she could neither be emptied nor 
got off; the river rose during the night, and all that could be seen of her 
the next morning was about six feet of her two masts. Thus ended the 
Ma-Robert, otherwise the Asthmatic. 

On the 31st of January, 1861, their new ship, the Pioneer, arrived 
from England, and anchored outside the bar of the Kongone; but the 
weather being stormy, she did not venture into the harbor until five 
days later. Two cruisers came at the same time, on board one of which 
were Bishop Mackenzie and his assistants, for the Universities’ Mis¬ 
sions. 

The bishop desired them to take him and his colleagues up the Shire 
as far as Chibisa’s, supposing that that would be a suitable place to 
establish the mission; but Dr. Livingstone, remembering the fate of 
the station at Liny anti, and fearful that, as there were no medical men 
on the bishop’s staff, they might fall victims to the African fever, ob- 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


21a 


jected very strongly to this plan. In addition to this reason, was another: 
the Portuguese government refused to open the Zambesi to the ships of 
other nations, and it was therefore impolitic to expend so much labor at 
this point, when others that were equally important and more easily 
accessible were neglected. Finally, it was decided that the bishop should 
accompany the Zambesi expedition to the Rovuma, which their new 
instructions bade them explore, and ascertain whether the country 



FISHING IN THE ZAMBESI iiiVEK. 


around its headwaters was suitable for the establishment of a station. 
The other members of the mission were to proceed in one of the cruisers, 
to Johanna, and there await the orders of their superior. 

Arriving at the mouth of the Rovuma toward the end of February, 
it was not until the 11th of March that they proceeded up the river, 
which had fallen four or five feet while they were delayed at the mouth, 
awaiting the arrival of the bishop; for he had chosen to go this far 
in the cruiser Lyra. But the river fell rapidly as they ascended, and as 
the March flood is the last of the season, they saw that the only thing 
to save the Pioneer from being hopelessly grounded was to get her back 









214 


LIVINGSTONE'S second journey. 


to salt water as quickly as possible. Had the expedition been absolutely 
unincumbered, they would have left the ship and pushed on in boats or 
on foot, and done what they could toward the exploration of the river 
and Lake Nyassa, from which it was supposed to flow; but they were 
anxious to advance the work of the mission; and therefore, decided to 
return to the Shire, see the mission party safely settled, and after¬ 
ward explore Lake Nyassa and the Rovuma from the lake downward. 
Fever broke out on board the Pioneer at the mouth of the Rovuma, and 
the vessel was soon left, through the illness of the officers, to the man¬ 
agement of Dr. Livingstone. 

They arrived at the mouth of the Zambesi after a prosperous voy¬ 
age, and steamed up to the mouth of the Shire without any special 
adventure. Their vessel, however, was not well adapted for their pur¬ 
pose in one particular: her draught was too great, being five feet, for 
the Shire. Much of their time was spent in getting her off sand-bars, 
and she could not venture down the river until a rise had increased 
its depth. 


FREEING SLAVES. 

Arrived at Chibisa’s village, they left the river, July 15, and with a 
sufficiently strong party, went inland to show the bishop a suitable 
station for the mission. Halting at the village of Mbame, they were 
told that a slave party on its way to Tette would presently pass 
through. “Shall we interfere?” they asked of each other. The ques¬ 
tion was a difficult one to answer, for all of their valuable goods had 
been left at Tette, and if they were to interfere to free these slaves, 
the owners of them might retaliate by procuring the destruction of 
these stores. But the slave-hunters had taken advantage of the ex¬ 
pedition’s opening the country to white men, and had persistently 
dogged their footsteps in places where they had never dared to venture 
before. The Englishmen therefore resolved to run all risks and put a 
stop, if possible, to the slave-trade, which had followed on the foot¬ 
steps of their discoveries. A few minutes after Mbame had spoken to 
them, the slave party, a long line of manacled men, women and children, 
came wending their way around the hill and into the valley, on the side 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


215 


of which the village stood. The black drivers, armed with muskets, 
and bedecked with various articles of finery, marched jauntily in the 
front, middle, and rear of the line; some of them blowing exultant 
notes out of a long tin horn. They seemed to feel that they were doing 
a very noble thing, and might proudly march with an air of triumph; 
but the instant the fellows caught a glimpse of the English, they darted 
off like mad into the forest—so fast, indeed, that they caught but a 
glimpse of their red caps and the soles of their feet. The chief of 
the party alone remained, and he, from being in front, had his hand 
tightly grasped by a Makololo. He proved to be a well-known slave of 
the late commandant at Tette, and for some time the Englishmen’s at¬ 
tendant while there. On asking him how he obtained these cap¬ 
tives, he answered that he had bought them; but on inquiry being made 
of the people themselves, all, save four, said they had been captured in 
war. While this inquiry was going on, he bolted, after his men. 

The captives knelt down, and in their way of expressing thanks, 
clapped their hands with great energy. They were thus left entirely 
on the hands of the whites, and knives were soon at work, cutting the 
women and children loose. It was more difficult to cut the men adrift, 
as each had his neck in the fork of a stout stick, six or seven feet long, 
and kept in by an iron rod which was riveted at both ends across the 
throat. With a saw, luckily in the bishop’s baggage, one by one the 
men were sawn out into freedom. The women, on being told to take the 
meal they were carrying and cook breakfast for themselves and the 
children, seemed to consider the news too good to be true; but after a 
little coaxing, went at it with alacrity, and made a capital fire by which 
to boil their pots with the slave sticks and bonds, their old acquain¬ 
tances through many a sad night and weary day. Many were mere 
children of five years and under. One little boy, with the simplicity of 
childhood, said to one of the liberators: 

“The others tied and starved us; you cut the ropes and tell us to 
eat; what sort of people are you? Where did you come from?” 


216 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY , 


HEART-RENDING STORIES. 

The stories that the captives had to tell were heart-rending: two 
women had been shot the day before for attempting to untie the thongs; 
this, the rest were told, was to prevent them from attempting to es¬ 
cape. One woman had her baby’s brains knocked out because she 
could not carry the load and it; and a man was dispatched with an 



AFRICAN REVIEW OF TROOFS. 


axe because he had broken down with fatigue. Eighty-four, chiefly 
women and children, were liberated; and on being told that they were 
now free, and might go wherever they wished, or remain with their 
liberators, they all chose to stay; and the bishop decided that they 
should be attached to the mission, to be educated as members of a 
great Christian family. 

They proceeded next morning to Soche’s with their liberated party, 
the men cheerfully carrying the bishop’s goods. As they had begun, 









































































LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


217 


it was of no use to do the things by halves, so eight others were freed in 
a hamlet on their path; but a party of traders, with nearly a hundred 
slaves, fled from Soche’s on hearing of these proceedings. Dr. Kirk 
and four Makololo followed them with great energy, but they got off 
clear to Tette. Six more captives were liberated at Mongazi’s, and 
two slave-traders detained for the night, to prevent their carrying 
information to a still larger party in the front. Of their own accord 
they volunteered the information that the governor’s servants had 
charge of the next party; but the Englishmen did not choose to be led 
by them, though they offered to act as guides to his excellency’s own 
agents. Two of the bishop’s black men from the Cape, having once 
been slaves, were now zealous emancipators, and volunteered to guard 
the prisoners during the night. So anxious were these heroes to keep 
them safe, that, instead of keeping watch and watch, both kept watch 
together till toward four o’clock in the morning, when sleep stole 
gently over them both, and the wakeful prisoners, seizing the oppor¬ 
tunity, escaped. One of the guards, perceiving the loss, rushed out 
of the hut, shouting: 

SLAVE HUNTERS ESCAPE. 

1 i They are gone! The prisoners are off! And they have taken my 
rifle with them, and the women, too! Fire! Everybody fire!” 

The rifle and the women, however, were safe enough, the slave- 
traders being glad to escape alone. Fifty more slaves were freed the 
next day in another village; and, the whole party being stark naked, 
cloth enough was left to clothe them, better probably than they had 
ever been clothed before. The head of this gang, whom the libera¬ 
tors recognized as the agent of one of the principal merchants of 
Tette, said that they had the license of the governor for all that they 
did. This was no news to the Englishmen, who were convinced that 
it was quite impossible for any enterprise to be undertaken there 
without the governor’s knowledge and connivance. 


218 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


A DESOLATE COUNTRY. 

They now approached the Manganja country, where they had seen 
such evidence, on the previous journey, of progress in manufactures. 
The country was now desolated by a war between the inhabitants and 
the Ajawas; the villages were all deserted; the stores of corn were 
poured out in cartloads, and scattered all over the plains, and all along 
the paths, neither conquerors nor conquered having been able to con¬ 
vey it away. About two o’clock they saw the smoke of burning vil¬ 
lages, and heard triumphant shouts, mingled with the wail of Man¬ 
ganja women, lamenting over their slain. The bishop then engaged 
the company of Englishmen in fervent prayer; and on rising from 
their knees, they saw a long line of Ajawa warriors, with their cap¬ 
tives, coming round the hill-side. The first of the returning conquer¬ 
ors were entering their own village below, and were welcomed back 
by the women with “lillilooings.” The Ajawa head man left the path 
on seeing the whites, and stood on an ant hill to obtain a good view 
of their party. They called out that they had come to have an inter¬ 
view with his people, but some of the Manganja, who followed them, 
shouted: 

“Our Chibisa is come!” 

Chibisa being well known as a great conjurer and general. The 
Ajawa ran off, yelling and screaming: 

“Nkondo! Nkondo!” (War! War!) 

The whites heard the words of the Manganja, but did not think 
of them at the moment as neutralizing all their own expressions re¬ 
garding peace. The captives threw down their loads on the path, 
and fled to the hills; and a large body of armed men came running up 
from the village, and in a few seconds were all around the whites, 
though mostly concealed by the projecting rocks and long grass. In 
vain the Englishmen protested that they had not come to fight, but 
to talk with them. They would not listen, having good reason in the 
cry of “Our Chibisa.” Flushed with recent victory over three vil¬ 
lages, and confident of an easy triumph over a mere handful of men, 
they began to shoot their poisoned arrows, sending them with great 
force upward of a hundred yards, and wounding one of the Makololo 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY 


219 


through the arm. The slow withdrawal of the English up the ascent 
from the village only made them more eager to prevent their escape; 
and in the belief that this retreat was the evidence of fear, they closed 
upon the little party with bloodthirsty fury. Some came within fifty 
yards, dancing hideously; others, having quite surrounded them, and 
availing thenrselves of the rocks, and long grasses hard by, were in¬ 



tent on cutting them off, while others made off with their women and 
a large body of slaves. Four were armed with muskets; and the Eng¬ 
lishmen were obliged in self-defense to return their fire and drive 
them off. When they saw the range of the rifles, they very soon de¬ 
sisted and ran away; but some of them shouted to the whites from the 
hill the consoling intimation that they would follow, and kill them 
where they slept. Only two of the captives escaped to the English¬ 
men, but probably most of those made prisoners that day fled else- 


























































220 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


where in the confusion. The whites returned to the village which they 
had left in the morning, after a hungry, fatiguing, and most unpleasant 
day. 

Though the explorers could not blame themselves for the course 
which they had pursued, they felt sorry for what had happened. It 
was the first time they had ever been attacked by the natives or had 
come into collision wdth them; though they had always taken it for 
granted that they might be called upon to act in self-defense they were 
on this occasion less prepared than usual, no game having been ex¬ 
pected here. The men had only a single round of cartridge each; their 
leader had no revolver, and the rifle he usually fired with was left at 
the ship, to save it from the damp of the season. Had they known 
better the effect of slavery and murder on the temper of these blood¬ 
thirsty marauders, they would have tried messages and presents be¬ 
fore going near them. 

The bishop, feeling as most Englishmen would at the prospect of 
the people now in his charge being swept off into slavery by hordes 
of men-stealers, proposed to go at once to the rescue of the captive 
Manganja, and drive the marauding Ajawa out of the country. All 
were warmly in favor of this save Dr. Livingstone, who opposed it on 
the ground that it would be better for the bishop to wait, and see the 
effect of the check the slave-hunters had just experienced. On the 
bishop inquiring if in the event of the Manganja asking aid against 
the Ajawa, it would be his duty to accede to the request: 

“No,” replied Dr. Livingstone, “you will be oppressed by their 
importunities, but do not interfere in native quarrels.” 

It would have been better if the bishop had followed this advice, 
which he mentions in his journal. 

The members of the mission now having proceeded far enough to 
be able to form' their own opinion of the country, the Zambesi expedi¬ 
tion left them, and returned to the ship. A few days after their re¬ 
turn, a party consisting of Dr. Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, and Charles 
Livingstone started for Lake Nyassa with a light four-oared gig, a 
white sailor, and a score of attendants. They hired people along the 
path to carry the boat past the forty miles of the Murchison Cataracts 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


90 i 

A- *_ J. 

i’or a cubit of cotton cloth a day. This was such magnificent pay, that 
twice the required number of men eagerly offered their services; 

crowds followed them,; and it was only by taking down the names of 

* 

the porters engaged in the morning that they could dispute claims 
made by those who had only helped during the last ten minutes of 
the evening. 

After passing the cataracts, they launched their boat upon the 
broad and deep waters of the Upper Shire, and were virtually on the 
lake, for the gentle current shows but little difference of level. The 
natives regard the Upper Shire as a prolongation of Lake Nyassa; for 
where what the explorers called the river approaches Lake Shirwa, 
a little north of the mountains, they said that the hippopotami, “which 
are great night travelers,” pass from one lake into the other. There 
the land is flat, and only a short land journey would be necessary. 

The geographical features of the lake which they now entered have 
become comparatively well known since that day, so that it is unneces¬ 
sary here to enlarge upon the subject; nor were they impressed, as 
other discoverers have been, with the grandeur of the scene before them 
when they first came in sight of it. At this second entrance into Lake 
Nyassa, as on the previous occasion, the air was full of smoke from 
burning grass, and their view was consequently extremely contracted. 

By Chitanda, near one of the slave-crossing places, they were 
robbed for the first time in Africa, and learned by experience that 
these people, like more civilized nations, have expert thieves among 
them. It might have been only a coincidence, but they never suffered 
from imprudence, loss of property, or were endangered, unless among 
people familiar with slaving. They had such a general sense of se¬ 
curity, that never, save when they suspected treachery, did they set a 
watch at night. Their native companions had, on this occasion, been 
carousing on beer, and had removed to a distance of some thirty yards; 
that their free and easy after-dinner remarks might not be heard by 
their employers. Two of the whites had a slight touch of fever. Be¬ 
tween three and four o’clock in the morning some light-fingered gentry 
came, while the explorers slept ingloriously—rifles and revolvers all 
ready—and relieved them of most of their goods. The boat’s sail, 


222 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY .. 


under which they slept, was open all around, so that the feat was 
easy. One of them felt his pillow moving, but in the delicious dreamy 
state in which he lay, thought it was one of the attendants adjusting 
his covering, and so, as he fancied, let well enough alone. 

ROBBED. 

Their consternation on awaking in the morning and finding their 
clothing, beads, and rice gone, may well be imagined. Their first ques¬ 
tion to each other was: “Is the cloth gone?” For the loss of that would 
have been equivalent to all their money. Fortunately, the parcel had 
been used as a pillow that night, and thus was safe. The rogues left 
on the beach a pair of boots and the aneroid barometer, also some 
dried plants and fishes; but they carried off many other specimens 
which had been collected, some of the notes of the journey, and nearly 
all of their clothing. They could not suspect the joeople of the village 
where they lay; they had probably been followed by the thieves for 
several days, watching their opportunity. 

They found that the northern end of the lake was the scene of 
lawlessness and bloodshed. So threatening did the various parties of 
natives appear, that the attendants of the explorers, who were making 
the journey by land, while the white men kept to the boat, became 
afraid to go on, unless a white man should join their party; and indeed, 
the danger was not small. Dr. Livingstone accordingly left the boat, 
and having taken the first morning’s journey along with them, and 
directing the boat to call for him at a bay in sight, both parties pro¬ 
ceeded north. In an hour Dr. Livingstone and his party struck in¬ 
land, on approaching the foot of the mountains which rise abruptly 
from the lake. Supposing that they had heard of a path behind the 
high range which there forms the shore, those in the boat held on their 
course; but it soon began to blow so fresh that they had to run ashore 
for safety. While delayed for a couple of hours, two men were sent 
up the hill to look for the land party, but they could see nothing of 
them, and the boat party sailed as soon as it was safe to put to sea, 
with the conviction that the missing ones would regain the lake in’ 
front. 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


223 


The boat passed a couple of parties, evidently lake pirates, who 
assured them that there was a path behind the hills. Pursued by an¬ 
other party of pirates, they put their boat to its utmost speed to es¬ 
cape ; and after sailing twelve or fifteen miles north of the point where 
Dr. Livingstone had left them, a gale compelled them to seek shelter 
in a bay. A succession of gales prevented their advancing or going 
back to the point whence they had started. 

In the meantime, Dr. Livingstone and his party had tried the path 
behind the hills, and found it so bad as to be almost impassable. They 
therefore turned back to the coast, expecting to find the boat; but only 
saw it disappearing away to the north. They pushed on as briskly 
as possible after it, but the mountain-flank which forms the coast 
proved excessively tedious and fatiguing; traveling all day, the dis¬ 
tance made, in a straight line, was under five miles. As soon as day 
dawned the march was resumed; and after hearing at the first inhabited 
rock that their companions had passed it the day before, seven Mazitu 
suddenly appeared before them. These demanded presents, and be¬ 
came boisterous; but the quiet persistence of Dr. Livingstone made 
them retreat. Their presence showed that there was more of less 
danger to be encountered. The next night was spent, unconsciously, 
on the very brink of a precipice; the party having traveled during 
every moment of daylight, and fearing to kindle a fire lest it should 
attract the attention of the Mazitu. The next night was also spent 
without fire, except a little for cooking the flesh of a goat which they 
killed. The next day, Dr. Livingstone was delighted to see the boat 
coming back, having been separated from his com,panions for four 
days. 

Their exploration of the lake extended from the 2nd of September 
to the 27th of October, 1861; and having expended or lost most of the 
goods they had brought, it was necessary to go back to the ship. They 
reached the vessel November 8, in a very weak condition, having suf¬ 
fered more from hunger than on any previous trip. Bishop Mackenzie 
came down to the ship to visit them, and gave a glowing account of his 
success at the mission. It was hoped that it could soon be made self- 
sustaining to a considerable degree. 


224 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


The river was rapidly gpd steadily falling; and they were obliged 
to wait until it should begin to rise, before the Pioneer could cross 
the bars. Not until January 7 did they leave their anchorage at Ruo, 
reaching the Zambesi on the 11th. Arrived at Tette, they expected to 
be called to account, in some way, for liberating the slaves; but beyond 
a mere mention of the fact by one of the owners of the liberated cap¬ 
tives, nothing was said; all the others seemed to be ashamed to speak 
of it. 



CANOES ON LAKE SHIEWA, 


Descending the Zambesi, they anchored in the Great Luabo mouth; 
and here, January 30, the British vessel Gordon arrived, bringing 
Mrs. Livingstone and some ladies who were to join their relatives 
connected with the Universities’ Mission. This vessel also brought out 
the sections of a new iron steamer intended for the navigation of Lake 
Nyassa, called the Lady of the Lake, or Lady Nyassa. Owing to the 
rivers being in flood, their progress up stream was extremely slow; 
















LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


225 


and they were finally obliged to put the hull of the Lady Nyassa to¬ 
gether, and tow her up to Murchison Falls. 

They were naturally anxious, as they progressed, to receive news 
of the mission; but it was some time before they were able to learn 
anything of it. At last, however, they learned that the bishop and 
Mr. Burrup had both died, from the consequences of exposure during 
a trip undertaken to rescue some of their ‘‘Mission family” of liber¬ 
ated slaves, who had been recaptured. The bishop’s sisters and Mr. 
Burrup’s wife had arrived on the Gordon, and just reached the Shire 
in time to learn the sad news of the two deaths. 

Shortly after this, the surviving members of the mission decided 
to remove to the lower Shire valley—a course which had the fatal con¬ 
sequences that Dr. Livingstone foresaw. 

DEATH OF MES. LIVINGSTONE. 

Many members of the Zambesi expedition were prostrated by the 
fever, which seems to have raged with unusual virulence this year; 
and they noticed that an extraordinary number of natives wore the 
stripes of palm-leaf which are their sign for sickness and mourning. 
In April, Mrs. Livingstone was taken down; and after a few days’ ill¬ 
ness, died April 27, 1862. She had come out again to Africa, thinking 
to assist her husband in his work as she had done before; but was 
taken before she could reach those who affectionately remembered “Ma- 
Robert.” She was buried at Shupanga, under the shade of a wide- 
spreading baobab tree. 

After many delays, the Lady Nyassa was launched on the 23rd of 
June. In accordance with their customs, the natives hotly discussed 
the question of what would be the result of putting so much iron in 
the water; some affirming that it would go to the bottom at once, others 
asserting that the white men had powerful medicine that would en¬ 
able them to keep even iron from sinking. Dr. Livingstone frequently 
notes the warm discussions which the negroes of this part of Africa 
hold over any question upon which they chance to differ; these discus¬ 
sions often ending in laying wagers as to the event of a given course. 


226 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


When the discussion cannot be settled this way, one party will chal¬ 
lenge the other to a foot-race, and the winner is held to have been in 
the right. 

HOSTILE PORTUGUESE OFFICIALS. 

The Portuguese officials threw so many obstacles in the way of 
ascending the Zambesi, that they at last concluded to explore the 
Eovuma, at least until the water of the Zambesi should be at a stage 
which would not assist these officers in their efforts to detain them. 
They accordingly sailed for the mouth of the Rovuma. The first peo¬ 
ple with whom they met were inclined to be hostile; but as they as¬ 
cended the river, they found them more friendly. At last, after travel¬ 
ing about a hundred and forty miles by the river’s course from the 
sea, or nearly two degrees of longitude in a straight line from the 
coast, they were obliged to stop. The river was narrow and full of 
rocks, with a rapid divided into such narrow passages that only a 
native canoe could pass through them. The natives reported a worse 
place above their turning-point, the passage being still narrower. They 
now saw that their easiest path to Nyassa was by way of the Shire, 
even with the Portuguese officials in the way; and they decided to return 
and try that path again. They reached the Pioneer October 9, and put 
to sea nine days later. 

Their destination as the Zambesi, but their fuel failed, and they 
were obliged to put into Quillimane. The delay thus occasioned 
brought them to the Zambesi so late in the season, that that river was 
very low, and their progress was correspondingly impeded. "While 
waiting the March rise, they unscrewed the Lady Nyassa at a point about 
five hundred yards below the first cataract, and began to make a road 
over the thirty-five or forty miles of land portage by which to carry 
her up piecemeal. 

The valley of the Shire had been well populated when they saw it on 
their former expeditions; but now, the results of the slave-trade, com¬ 
bined with those of a famine induced by drought, had turned the once 
smiling country into a wilderness. Everywhere that they turned, they 
saw desolation; and the living were not enough to bury the dead. De- 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


227 


caying corpses poisoned the atmosphere, or floated down the river in 
too great numbers for the over-gorged crocodiles to consume. The 
effect upon the spirits of the explorers may be imagined; and when to 
this feeling was added sickness, it was judged best that the two who 
suffered most severely physically, should return home. These were 



CARRYING THE STEEL EOAT AND CUTTING A PATH THROUGH THE FOREST. 


Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone. The parting took place May 19; 
and with them went all the whites that could be spared. 

On the 2nd of July, a dispatch was received from Earl Russell, 
containing instructions for the withdrawal of the expedition. The 
attempt to open up this portion of Africa to trade was regarded as 
practically hopeless, while the Portuguese government maintained such 
an attitude— counteracting the effect of its open instructions to its 



















228 


LIVINGSTONE’S SECOND JOURNEY. 


officials by actual private instructions, or by allowing abuses of au¬ 
thority which practically nullified the laws made in Lisbon.- In the 
then condition of the river, however, it was useless to attempt a return 
to the sea. 

They accordingly decided to make an exploratory journey on foot 
to the northward. Crossing the country to the southern shores of 
Lake Nyassa, they skirted the western coast of that body of water al¬ 
most half-way to the northern end; then, by a three days’ journey to 
the westward, reached a village on the banks of a tributary of the 
Loangwa. It was now the latter part of September; and if they were 
to take advantage of the winter floods, they could not afford to go 
farther. From this point, their path was, with slight variations, that 
by which they had come. Reaching the ship, they took advantage of 
a rise about the middle of January to sail down the Shire, and, after 
some delays, occasioned by waiting to take on board some members of 
the helpless “Mission family” of Bishop Mackenzie, the mission hav¬ 
ing now been abandoned, they reached Zanzibar April 16, 1864; and 
after two weeks spent there, directed the course of the Lady Nyassa 
to Bombay. Early in June, after sailing more than twenty-five hundred 
miles, they sighted Bombay; the expedition to the Zambesi had come 
to an end. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

LIVINGSTONE'S LAST EXPEDITION. 


Attendants and Arrivals—Misfortunes—The Open Sore of the World—Loss of Medicines— 
Illness—A Marriage—An Earthquake—Serious Illness—Theft of Goods—“Sorest Delay I 
Ever Had”—Broken Hearts—A Journey Through Dangers—Death Threatened Thrice In 
One Day—Destitute—The Darkest Hour—The Dawn—The Stars and Stripes at Ujiji— 
Henry M. Stanley—Hardships—His Last Prayer—His Death Discovered. 

T HE Zambesi expedition, described in the previous chapter, was 
substantially a failure; and no one felt this more keenly than 
its illustrious leader. Not only had he spent thousands of pounds 
of the Government’s money and of his own, without attaining any ap¬ 
preciable result, or at least any such result as had been expected, but 
his failure had brought the whole subject of African exploration into 
disfavor with his countrymen. He returned to England, a disappointed 
man. But although the popular feeling was now as much against the 
exploration of Africa as at the close of the first journey it had been in 
favor of *it, there were some whose interest was not lightly to be 
changed. The president of the Royal Geographical Society still held 
the work as of the same importance; and it was Sir Roderick Murchi¬ 
son who, almost as soon as he had returned, proposed that the ex¬ 
plorer should undertake a third journey, for the purpose of fixing the 
true water-shed of Inner Southern Africa. After much difficulty, Sir 
Roderick persuaded that Government to advance five hundred pounds 
for this purpose; the Council of the Royal Geographical Society sub¬ 
scribed as much more; and “a valued private friend” of Dr. Living¬ 
stone’s placed a further thousand pounds at his disposal. 

The expedition was organized at Bombay, and proceeded thence 
to Zanzibar. From this point, Livingstone sailed down the coast to 
Mikindany Bay, near the mouth of the Rovuma River; thence they 
were to proceed overland to Lake Nyassa. 

229 


230 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION 


ATTENDANTS AND ANIMALS. 

His attendants numbered thirty-six. Of these, three had been with 
him on the previous trip, employed, not at the beginning, but after the 
arrival of the Pioneer; of these we shall have occasion hereafter to 
single out Susi by name. Two of his attendants were among the slaves 
liberated by the party when Bishop Mackenzie was with it; of these, 
Chuma is the one whose name has been perpetuated by what he did 
for his master. 



TBAVELEBS AND THE MIBAGE, 


Six camels, two buffaloes and a calf, two mules, and four donkeys, 
were the animals attached to the expedition. It should be noted that 
while the bite of the tsetse is fatal to the horse and to cattle, it does 
not affect the donkey or the mule any more than it injures the wild 
beasts or man. This fact will explain the reason for selecting these 
animals. 
































































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


231 


They reached Rovuma Bay March 22, 1866; and landed April 6, 
at the point chosen. Then the march began, nearly due west, as they 
followed the course of the river. The journey to the lake is marked 
only by misfortunes. The camels proved as vulnerable to the tsetse as 
cattle, and all died from the bites. The mules and three donkeys suc¬ 
cumbed to the ill-usuage of their drivers. The thirteen Sepoys muti¬ 
nied, and then proved so worthless that Dr. Livingstone was obliged to 
dismiss them; the ten Johanna men deserted in a body; one of the nine 
Nassick boys died, and another met some of his friends and con¬ 
cluded to remain with them. Thus the expedition of thirty-seven which 
had left Zanzibar had dwindled down to a little group of twelve per¬ 
sons. 

The first hundred pages of his journal of this expedition are melan¬ 
choly reading; containing, as they do, little beyond the record of events 
which would have discouraged a less determined explorer to the point 
of retracing his footsteps and giving up the effort: and of devices for 
easing the pangs of hunger; for which the folly and laziness of the 
attendants themselves were largely responsible. But Livingstone’s 
was too great a mind to be shaken by such adverse winds as these; and 
he pressed steadily forward. 

THE OPEN SORE OF THE WORLD. 

There is yet another element of sadness in these early pages of his 
journal. Even in the first stages of his journey, there was again laid 
bare to his eyes “the great open sore of the world,” as the slave-trade 
has fitly been styled. In a little more than two months after leaving 
the coast, the first indications that they were on the track of the slave- 
traders appeared. First, they passed by a woman tied by the neck to 
a tree, and dead; the people of the surrounding country explained 
that she had been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, 
and her master had determined that she should not become the property 
of any one else if she recovered after resting a time. They saw others 
tied up in a similar manner, and others lying in the path shot or 
stabbed, a pool of their own blood surrounding them. The explana¬ 
tion which the traveler invariably received was that the Arab who 


232 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


owned these victims was enraged at losing his money by the slaves be¬ 
coming unable to march, and vented his spleen by murdering them. 
Dr. Livingstone remarks that the traders are quite well aware that 
such an example as this spurs the others to renewed endeavors to keep 
up with the march, even when their strength is rapidly failing them. 
In other cases, they found slaves who were dying of starvation, having 
been abandoned because they could not go on, or because the trader 
found his stock of provisions insufficient for those under his charge. 

On the 8th of August, he again reached the shores of Lake Nyassa, 
this time at the mouth of the Masinje River. “It was as if I had come 
back to an old home I never expected again to see,” he writes; “and 
pleasant to bathe in the delicious waters again, hear the roar of the 
sea, and dash in the rollers.” He remained at this point for several 
days, taking observations, and writing up his journal fully. Then 
he skirted the southern shore of the lake, reaching the western borders 
September 25. 

It had been his intention to strike directly north-west from Nyassa 
for the exploration of Lake Tanganyika; but the intervening country 
was filled with hostile Mazitu, and it was not safe for his little party 
to attempt to cross it. He therefore resolved to journey directly west 
until he reached the Zalyanvama Mountains, and then to proceed nearly 
due north until the lake was reached. 

AN AFRICAN SPONGE. 

Most of the country crossed in this westward journey was lowland, 
of the kind known in Africa as “sponges.” Wherever a plain sloping 
toward a narrow opening in hills or higher ground exists, we have the 
conditions requisite for the forming of an African sponge. The vege¬ 
tation, not being of a peat-forming kind, falls down, rots, and then 
forms a rich black loam,. In many cases, a mass of this loam, two or 
three feet thick, rests on a bed of pure river sand, which is revealed 
by crabs and other aquatic animals bringing it to the surface. In the 
dry season, the black loam is cracked in all directions, and the cracks 
are often as much as three inches wide, and very deep. The whole 
surface falls down and rests on the sand; but when the rains come, 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


233 


the first supply is nearly all absorbed in the sand. The black loam 
forms soft slush, and floats on the sand. The narrow opening prevents 
it from moving oft in a landslip, but an oozing spring rises at that 
spot. All the pools in the lower portion of this spring-course are 
filled by the first rains, which happen south of the equator when the 
sun goes vertically over any spot. The second, or greater rains, hap¬ 
pen in his course north again, when all the bogs and river-courses be¬ 
ing wet, the supply runs off, and forms the inundation. This was cer- 



HAULING OF STEAMER THROUGH THE VEGETATION. 


tainly the case which Livingstone had observed on the Zambesi and the 
Shire; and taking the different times for the sun’s passage north of 
the equator, he considered that it explained the inundation of the 
Nile. . 

It may be inferred that traveling over ground of this nature was 
not the easiest thing in the world; but so long as the little party was 
not thrown among hostile tribes, it did not matter so much. The peo¬ 
ple through whose territory they were passing were Manganja, a very 
industrious race, combining agriculture and hunting with nets with 
various handicrafts, such as weaving and working in iron. 

The Manganja are very ceremonious in their demeanor toward 









234 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


each other; and were very friendly to the strangers. In return for the 
food and native sweet beer with which the chiefs generally provided 
them at each stopping-place, Livingstone usually gave a “cloth,” (two 
yards of unbleached muslin), and so little clothing is worn in this 
country that this was considered quite a munificent payment. Owing, 
however, to the raids and forays of the Mazitu, food was very scarce 
in some localities, and more than once the caravan was almost on the 
verge of starvation. 

They crossed the Loangwa, the great northern tributary of the 
Zambesi, the middle of December; and reached the Chambeze late in 
the following January (1867). But before they got to the banks of 
this latter river, they had met with a loss which affected the whole after 
history of the expedition; and the editor of Livingstone’s Last Jour¬ 
nals has advanced the statement that this loss materially hastened his 
death, by leaving him without the means of counteracting fever, and 
thus allowing his constitution to be undermined. 

The desertion of so large a number of his men in the very outstart 
of the expedition had made him dependent upon the people of the 
country through which he passed for porters and for guides; the 
Johanna men had been intended chiefly for the latter purpose. 

They were traveling through the forest near the Lobo, having just 
set out from Lisunga. Their guides were two Waiyau who had joined 
them some time before, and who were considered perfectly trust¬ 
worthy because of their uniform good conduct ever since they had joined 
the caravan. A boy named Baraka, who was very careful, had charge 
of the medicine box, which was packed with a parcel containing five 
large cloths and all Baraka’s clothing and beads. The Waiyau offered 
to exchange burdens for a while with Baraka, his own being the lighter 
(his real reason was that his own contained no cloth). Baraka con¬ 
sented. The fugitives watched their chance, and suddenly disappeared 
in the dense forest. Besides Baraka’s package, they took all fhe 
dishes, a large box of powder, some flour, for which a high price had 
been paid, the tools, two guns, and a cartridge-pouch. The loss of these 
things was bad enough, but the great loss was the medicine. Living¬ 
stone says: “I felt as if I had now received the sentence of death, 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


235 


like poor Bishop Mackenzie,’’ whose medicines had been wetted and 
rendered worthless by the upsetting of a boat. 

The caravan returned to Lisunga, and men were at once sent out 
to scour the surrounding country for a trace of the fugitives. Living¬ 
stone was aware that they could attach no value whatever to the medi¬ 
cine-chest but would throw it and its precious contents away as soon 
as they had got the clothing and beads out of the parcel. 

They remained for two days at Lisunga, and then, having bought 
all the provisions which the chief had to sell, were obliged to push 
forward in spite of the rain. For the next few days, they had much 
difficulty in obtaining food; but looked forward to great plenty when 
they should have reached the village of the powerful Chitapangwa. 

- : i 

This was called Molemba; and they came to it about noon of the 
last day of January. It was surrounded by a triple stockade, the 
inner being defended also by a deep, broad ditch, and a hedge of 
a thorny shrub, resembling the tomato or nightshade family. Chita¬ 
pangwa sent to inquire if they desired an audience; and the messenger 
informed them that they must take something in their hands the first 
time they went to see so great a man. Dr. Livingstone was tired from 
marching, and sent word that he would not come until evening. About 
five o’clock he sent notice of his coming. They passed through the 
inner stockade, and then to an enormous hut, where sat Chitapangwa, 
with three drummers and ten or more men, with two rattles in their 
hands. The drummers beat furiously, and the rattlers kept time 
to the drums, two of them advancing and receding in a stooping 
posture, with rattles near the ground, as if doing the chief obeisance; 
but still keeping time with the others. The traveler declined to sit on 
the ground, and so an enormous tusk was brought for him. The chief 
saluted courteously. He had a fat, jolly face, and legs loaded with 
brass and copper leglets. Dr. Livingstone mentioned his losses by the 
desertion of the Waiyau, but as power is merely nominal, Chitapangwa 
could do nothing. After talking a while, he conducted his guest to a 
group of cows, and pointed out one. 

‘‘That is yours,” he said politely. 


238 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION . 



smaller one; an appeal to the chief ended in his having to pay Chit- 
apangwa about four times the value of the animal in cloth, and then 
the savage was not satisfied. 

Sending a number of letters from this point by means of a small 
party of Arab slavers, who were on their road to Zanzibar, Dr. Living¬ 
stone remained at this village about three weeks. This stay was partly 
on account of illness, as he was taken down with the fever, which he 


The tusk on which the explorer had sat was also sent after him to 
his quarters, as being his. Before they separated, Chitapangwa put 
on the cloth which Livingstone had given him, as a token of accept¬ 
ance; and further showed his gratitude by sending two large baskets 
of sorghum to the stranger’s hut after dark. The gift of the cow, how¬ 
ever, proved a delusion and a snare; for when the traveler would have 
it killed the next day, a man interfered, and pointed out a much 


THE COURT OF A BLACK KING. 


















































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


237 


had no means of curing. But much of the time was spent in negotiating 
for food with Chitapangwa. 

THE DRIVER-ANTS. 

About the middle of March, they met with an enemy who had not 
before been encountered. Dr. Livingstone says: 

“A shower of rain set the driver-ants on the move, and about two 
hours after we had turned in we were overwhelmed by them. They 
are called kalandu, or nkalanda. To describe this attack is utterly 
impossible. I wakened covered with them; my hair was full of them. 
One by one they cut into the flesh, and the more they are disturbed, 
the more vicious are their bites; they become quite insolent. I went 
outside the hut, but there they swarmed everywhere; they covered 
the legs, biting furiously; it is only when they are tired that they 
leave off.” 

They reached Lake Tanganyika the 1st of April, viewing it from 
the summit of the ridge two thousand feet above its level, which forms 
the southern boundary of its cup-like bed. The village at this point, 
Pambete, is surrounded with palm-oil-trees, tall and graceful as those 
found upon the west coast. 

But the leader of the expedition was too weak and ill to make jour¬ 
neys about the lake. At one time, he was unconscious for several hours 
from the effects of fever; and finally his faithful servants hung a 
blanket before the entrance to his hut, that the curious natives might 
not be witnesses of his weakness. Nor could he learn anything by in¬ 
quiry of the people. Either they were wholly ignorant, or they mis¬ 
trusted him so much that they would give no information. 

They remained at this village a month, before the leader was able 
to travel; and then he was far from being well. Toward the end of 
May, they arrived at Chisaka, Chitimba’s village, and here they were 
detained for more than three months, owing to trouble between a party 
of Arab traders and a native chief, Nsama. Dr. Livingstone frankly 
says he heard but one side of the story, that of the Arabs, and hence 
cannot pretend to state the case truly; but the fact that the native 
chiefs generally condemned Nsama seemed to indicate that he was in 


238 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION , 


the wrong. About the middle of September, however, the Arabs having 
lost about fifty men and Nsama probably twice as many, negotiations 
for a peace were entered upon; and as was often the case among 
civilized nations in other days, this peace was to be cemented with a 
marriage, Nsama promising to give one of his daughters to Hamees, 
one of the Arabs, as a wife. She came riding pick-aback on a man’s 



THE KING ADDBESSING HIS SUBJECTS. 


shoulders into the village where her future lord was for the time, 
“a nice, modest, good-looking young woman, her hair rubbed all over 
with nkola, a red pigment made from the cam-wood, and much used as 
an ornament. She was accompanied by about a dozen young and old 
female attendants, each carrying a small basket with some provisions, 
as cassava, ground-nuts, etc. The Arabs were all dressed in their 
finery, and the slaves, in fantastic dresses, flourished swords, fired 
guns, and yelled. When she was brought to Hamees’ hut she descended, 



































































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


239 


and with her maids went into the hut. She and her attendants all had 
small, neat features. I had been sitting with Hamees, and now rose up 
and went away. As I passed him, he spoke thus to himself: ‘Hamees 
Wadim Tagh! see to what you have brought yourself?’ ” 

Nsama had been a great conqueror in his time, and with bows and 
arrows as the arms of his enemies, he was invincible; but the Arabs 
had of course been provided with fire-arm,s, and it was to the su¬ 
premacy of weapons, not of generalship, that he had been obliged to 
yield so far as to consent to a peace. Dr. Livingstone visited his vil¬ 
lage, Itawa, and found the people particularly handsome. Nsama was 
very gracious, and promised guides and porters; but showed so much 
distrust that the traveler finally decided to go on without the prof¬ 
fered assistance. 

Keeping to the north of Nsama’s country after this brief visit, the 
party moved westward until it reached the north end of Moero. This 
was Nov. 8; it was the rainy season again, and the explorer was ob¬ 
liged to be very careful where he traveled, lest he again fall a victim 
to that fever against which he was now defenseless. 

Their next visit of note was to a chief of Lunda, called the Casembe. 
This word, which means simply a general, has been applied as a proper 
name both to the chief and to the village where he lives. The Portu¬ 
guese had used it in the latter sense; and their various observations 
as to the location of the village Casembe did not agree very closely, for 
the simple reason that each Casembe, as he came into office, removed 
the village from, its previous site to one which pleased him better. 
The town at the time of Livingstone’s visit was situated on the east 
bank of the lakelet Mofwe, and one mile from its northern end. The 
plain extending from the Lunde to the town of Casembe is level, and 
studded pretty thickly with red-ant hills, from fifteen to twenty feet 
high. Casembe had made a broad path from his town to the Lunde, 
a distance of about a mile and a half. The town consisted of a space 
a mile square, dotted over with cassava plantations, in the midst of 
which were the huts. The court or compound of Casembe was. sur¬ 
rounded by a hedge of high reeds, ornamented with about sixty human 
skulls. Before the gigantic hut within this enclosure, which was Ca- 


240 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


sembe’s abode, the chief sat on a square seat placed on lion and leopard 
skins; he was dressed in a coarse blue and white print edged with red 
baize, arranged in large folds “so as to look like a crinoline put on 
wrong side foremost.” His arms, legs, and head were covered with 
sleeves, leggings, and cap made of various colored beads arranged in 
patterns; a crown of yellow feathers surmounted his cap, and he con¬ 
sidered himself a model of royal magnificence. 

"While at this village, Dr. Livingstone was provided with food on a 
liberal scale; and his presents seemed to be fully appreciated. His 
first gift to the chief consisted of eight yards of orange-colored serge, 
a large striped table-cloth, another large cloth, and a large richly 
gilded comb for the hair, such as ladies wore about 1820. As Lunda 
fashions in coiffure are various, this could not fail of being a wel¬ 
come gift. 

Casembe showed himself very friendly, although the traveler, re¬ 
membering the skulls, and noting that many of his attendants had 
their ears cropped or their hands lopped off in token of their master’s 
displeasure, could not trust him entirely. Although the Portuguese 
had visited this country, it is to be noted that Casembe thought there 
were only two sovereigns in the world, Queen Victoria and the sultan 
of Zanzibar. 

As they came down the watershed toward Tanganyika, they entered 
an area of the earth’s surface still disturbed by internal igneous action. 
A hot fountain in the country of Nsama, they found, was often used to 
boil cassava and maize. Earthquakes are no rarity in this section of 
the country, and one was experienced which shook their hut, and set 
the fowls to cackling, in the middle of the night. The most remark¬ 
able effect of this earthquake was, that it changed the rates of the 
chronometers, and stopped one entirely. 

Dr. Livingstone was so affected by the climate that he was unable 
to leave Casembe’s town until late in June, 1868, although he had 
arrived there in the previous autumn. His desire was to explore Lake 
Bangweolo, but the shores of it were so marshy, and the intervening 
country so overflowed during the wet season that it was highly im¬ 
prudent for him to attempt it. 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION . 


241 



THE CONGO KING. 


DISCOVERY OF LAKE BANGWEOLO. 

It was on the 18th of July, 1868, that Dr. Livingstone discovered 
this lake, one of the largest in central Africa. It is extraordinary to 
note the total absence of all pride and enthusiasm as, almost parenthet¬ 
ically, he records the fact in these few brief words: 




242 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION . 


“Readied the chief village of Mapuni, near the north bank of Bang- 
weolo. On the 18th I walked a little way out, and saw the shores of 
the lake for the first time, thankful that I had come safely hither.” 

His intention to explore the lake was not carried out for a week, 
a strong and unfavorable wind detaining him on shore. But his re¬ 
turn was much delayed by the condition of the country. We have al¬ 
ready referred to that contest between Nsama and the Arab traders, 
which was apparently settled by the marriage of Hamees to Nsama’s 
daughter. But this alliance did not accomplish this result; for the 
lady, hearing what seemed to her an indication that her father was to 
be attacked by her husband’s people, departed quietly from her new 
home, and was seen no more. The other native chiefs, beginning to 
be alarmed at the encroachments of the Arabs, joined forces and at¬ 
tempted to storm the stockade of one of their leaders. They suffered 
a severe defeat in this attempt; and the whole country was thrown into 
turmoil and confusion. For several months travel or exploration was 
impossible; and several times the life of the stranger was in imminent 
danger. During this period, he occupied his time in writing out an ex¬ 
ceedingly valuable treatise on the subject of the periodical floods which 
drain the enormous cistern-lakes of Central Africa. It would mani¬ 
festly be out of place to transfer that treatise to these pages; and the 
reader who would study the subject is referred to the work of which 
the present chapter is substantially an abridgment—“The Last Jour¬ 
nals” of David Livingstone in Central Africa. 

At last, a cruel outrage perpetrated by one of the Arabs on the 
natives of Kizinga so exasperated the latter that they declared war; 
and although badly defeated in the first instance soon compelled the 
slave-traders to leave the coimtry. With a party of these, led by Mo¬ 
hammed Bagharib, Livingstone started to Ujiji on December 11. The 
march to the nearest point on Lake Tanganyika occupied just two 
months, but was entirely uneventful, except that just before reaching 
the lake, Livingstone had an attack of pneumonia, accompanied by 
spitting of blood and distressing weakness. He had to be carried for 
sixteen days, during part of which time he was insensible, and lost 
count of the days of the week and the month. And this was the man 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


243 


who at the start, had been able to outstrip all his companions in walk¬ 
ing, and was often obliged to loiter on the way because the caravan 
could not keep up with his swift, steady pace. 

He had arranged for a quantity of goods to be sent from Zanzibar 
to Ujiji by one of the caravans trading along this route; and fully ex¬ 
pected to find at this point, not only cloth and beads for propitiating 
the natives along his way, but a supply of the sorely needed medicines. 
Unfortunately, the goods had been intrusted to a scoundrel, who had 
helped himself most liberally to them. Sixty-two out of the eighty pieces 
of cloth had been stolen, and most of his best beads. Medicines, wine, 
and cheese had been left at Unyanyembe, thirteen days’ journey east 
of Ujiji. Nor was the distance the only difficulty; the way was blocked 
by a Mazitu war, so that he must wait at Ujiji until the governor of 
Unyanyembe should have an opportunity of forwarding the goods in 
safety. 

At Ujiji, however, he found a supply of flannel, which was very 
beneficial worn next to the skin, in his present condition. He also re¬ 
ceived a present of Assam tea from Calcutta, and his own supply of 
coffee and a little sugar had not been stolen. 

The next month was occupied in writing letters home; and on the 
27th of April he records that he had finished forty-two. He had great 
difficulty in persuading any one to undertake to deliver these at Zan¬ 
zibar; the probability is, that even those who were not directly impli¬ 
cated in the theft of his goods were afraid that they would be accused 
of it; at last, however, he found messengers who promised to take 
them; and to their charge the documents were confided. That is the 
end of the history of the letters then written; for they never reached 
their destination. 

EXPLORING THE RIVER LUALABA. 

July 12, he set out to explore the Manyuema country, hitherto a 
country wholly unknown. Securing canoes, he skirted the edge of the 
lake for a short distance, then crossed it, and struck along the coast on 
foot. They passed through Uguha, or the country of the Waguha, and 
came to the territory occupied by the Manyuema. 


244 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


Late in October, 1869, being thoroughly rested, he determined to 
cross the country to the Lualaba, and buy a canoe for its exploration. 
It is scarcely necessary to say that at the period of which we write, the 
course of this river was shrouded in mystery. Their route was west and 
south-west, through a country of beauty so great that he seems never 
tired of praising it. But they found the people far from friendly. 



COOKING THE LOCUSTS. 


A slave-trader had been through there, and had treated the people 
with great severity; in spite of the difference of color, they persisted 
in looking upon Dr. Livingstone as akin to the Arab. Owing to this 
state of feeling, they found it impossible to buy a canoe in which to 
cross the Luamo, the banks of which they reached November 17. 
Finally the party returned to Bambarre. 

A second trip was begun the day after Christmas, the route being 
slightly altered, so that they struck the Luamo at a higher point than 


































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


245 


before. Their course from. Bambarre for a number of days was nearly 
due north. They found the people civil, as a rule, but like noisy chil¬ 
dren, all talking and gazing when they entered a village. But weak¬ 
ness and sickness delayed them, and it was a month and more before 
they reached the Lualaba. 

The incidents of the next few months need not be recorded in de¬ 
tail. He made but little progress, and even after reaching the banks 
of the Lualaba he turned aside, to visit Arab traders who had come for 
ivory, and with whom he was good friends. Under the date of June 
26, we have this entry: 

“Now my people failed me; so, with only three attendants, Susi, 
Chuma and Gardner, I started off to the north-west for the Lualaba.” 

SUFFERS FROM SORE FEET. 

But this was another false start. For the first time in his life his 
feet failed him; and learning that the Lualaba took a great bend to the 
west-south-west, he gave up the quest, and limped back to Bambarre 
with his three faithful servants. Fairly baffled by the difficulties in 
his way, and sorely troubled by the demoralized state of his men, who 
had been seduced by the Arabs to a more lucrative employment, the 
explorer turned back from this point. He was laid up for some time 
with the sores on his feet, which became irritable eating ulcers, so 
painful that sometimes he could not sleep. 

While he was thus rendered helpless, the few men that had not 
deserted him occupied much of their time in hunting. The chief game 
about this point was the soko, a species of the chimpanzee which has 
sometimes been identified with the gorilla; but no white scientist has 
ever seen the soko, and those Africans who came to England after 
the death of Dr. Livingstone failed to recognize the gorilla, stuffed, 
which is in the British Museum, as a soko. Nor do the descriptions 
of soko-hunts lead us to believe that they are the same as that power¬ 
ful and ferocious animal of Western Equatorial Africa, which Du 
Chaillu has described. The soko is represented by some to be ex¬ 
tremely knowing, successfully stalking men and women while at their 
work, kidnapping children and running up trees with them; he seems 


246 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


to be amused by the sight of the young natives in his arms, but comes 
down when tempted by a bunch of bananas, and as he lifts that, drops 
the child. One man was cutting honey from a tree, when a soko sud¬ 
denly appeared and caught him, and then let him go. Another man 
was hunting, and missed in his aim when he attempted to stab a soko; 
it seized the spear and broke it, then grappled with the man, who called 
for help to his companions; it bit off the ends of his fingers and es¬ 
caped unharmed. Another still was caught by a soko while hoeing; 
he roared out, but the soko giggled and grinned, and left him as if it 
had attacked him in play. A child caught up by a soko is often abused 
by being pinched and scratched and let fall. 

His friend Mohammed, the chief of the ivory traders, offered to go 
with him to see the Lualaba; the explorer explained that it would not 
be sufficient for him to see it, lie must descend the stream and see 
whither it flowed. Mohammed then offered to provide him with men; 
and this offer was accepted, the equivalent of two hundred and seventy 
pounds sterling being paid as amends for the injury to his ivory trade 
which the loss of these men would occasion. 

Eighty days had passed since Dr. Livingstone first knew that his 
feet had failed him, before he was able to use them again. He was, by 
the journey which he was now beginning, entering upon the solution of 
a vexed geographical problem. It was a vexed problem, because the 
assumption of a point as true had caused errors which could not be 
corrected as long as this error obtained. This mistake was in identify¬ 
ing the Chambeze with the Zambesi. The map of Africa which Dr. 
Livingstone carried with him upon this expedition contained this 
error; the map-maker showing the river as running up-stream, and be¬ 
tween three and four thousand feet up-hill, in order to reach the Zam¬ 
besi which was known through Livingstone’s former expedition, as 
well as by the settlements of the Portuguese. 

LTpon this trip, the explorer departed from the course which lie 
had previously marked out for himself, to give no European name to 
any natural feature; this rule had been broken but once before, when 
he gave to the great cataract of the Zambesi the name of Victoria Falls; 
he now gave English names to the lakes which are the head-waters 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


247 


of the Congo—Palmerston Fountain, Frere Fountain, and Lake Lin¬ 
coln, thus perpetuating, in the interior of Africa, the names of three 
men who had been, in his own day, most prominent in their efforts to 
suppress slavery. 

But his effort to descend the Lualaba was not without hindrance. 
Under date of December 10, 1870, he says: 

“I am sorely let and hindered in this Manyeema. Rain every day, 
and often at night. * * * This is the sorest delay I ever had.” 

BROKEN HEARTS. 

While detained thus at Bambarre, Dr. Livingstone became ac¬ 
quainted with a curious disease—the strangest disease which he had 
seen in that country, he declared. Freemen who were taken as slaves 
died without any assignable cause, the only pain which they suffered 
being in the region of the heart. He regarded their death as due to 
that much scoffed-at trouble, a broken heart. 

Late in December, the traveler’s goat, on which he depended for 
milk, was killed by a leopard. A gun set for the animal went off at ten 
o’clock at night. The next morning, some of the attendants of the 
explorer set off on a hunt, and tracked him to his lair. The ball had 
broken both hind-legs and one fore-leg; yet he sprang viciously upon 
the foremost of the hunters, and bit him badly. Speared by the com¬ 
rades of the man attacked, he proved to be a splendid specimen of his 
kind, being six feet eight inches from, tip of nose to end of tail. 

They left Bambarre February 16, but progressed very slowly. 
Their way lay across a great bend of the Lualaba, and they traveled on 
foot. After a journey lasting about six weeks, they came once more 
to the bank of the Lualaba, a mighty stream, at least three thousand 
yards broad, and so deep that the people living near by declared it 
could never, at any time of the year, be forded. The current, he found 
to be about two miles an hour. 

But having reached the banks of this mighty river, the traveler 
found that he could go no farther, for the present at least; the sus¬ 
picions of the natives prevented him from obtaining canoes either for 
descending or for crossing it. Here he remained from March 31 until 


248 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION . 


July 20, hoping day by day to be able to obtain canoes; getting bits of 
uncertain information now and then from the people about the rivers 
of the surrounding country, and striving to teach those with whom he 
came in contact. Finally, there was a terrible tight at this point, 
which was a market-place for the whole surrounding country. A 
quarrel between the natives and a slave of the ivory-traders who had 
come hither was taken up by all interested, and between three and four 
hundred persons killed. Livingstone, powerless to prevent the slaugh- 



GKEAT HONEY GUIDE. 


ter, could only look on at the affrighted people struggling in the river 
into which they had plunged for safety, and, when the fight was over, 
intercede for those who had fled to him for safety. So far had the 
people been carried by their anger, that after it was all over, no one 
could give a connected account of the reasons for the fight. They had 
seen their friends fighting, and had joined in. 

On July 20, he started back to Ujiji, but the journey back was 
different from anything that this old traveler had yet experienced. 
The ivory-traders had passed through this country, and maltreated the 












LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION . 


249 


natives to such an extent that the whole country was aroused; and Dr. 
Livingstone being constantly taken for an Arab, was in perpetual dan¬ 
ger of his life. Three times in one day (August 8) was he delivered 
from impending death. 


A DANGEROUS PATH. 

In passing along the narrow path, with a dense wall of vegetation 
touching either hand, the party came to a point where an ambush had 
been placed, and trees cut down to obstruct their passage while the as¬ 
sailants speared them; hut for some reason it had been abandoned. 
Nothing could be detected; but by stooping down toward the earth and 
looking up toward the sun, a dark shade could sometimes be seen; this 
was an infuriated savage, and a slight rustle in the dense vegetation 
meant a spear. A large spear from Livingstone’s right lunged past, 
and, almost grazing his back, stuck firmly in the soil. The two men 
from whom it came appeared in an opening in the forest only ten yards 
off, and bolted, one looking back over his shoulder as he ran. As they 
are expert with the spear, the traveler could only account for its miss¬ 
ing by supposing that the man had been too sure of his aim, and by at¬ 
tributing his safety to the protecting care of his Father. 

Shortly after this, another spear was hurled at him, missing him by 
about a foot in front. Guns were fired into the thick forest, but with no 
effect, for nothing could be seen; but they heard the savages jeering and 
denouncing them close by. Two of Livingstone’s men were killed by 
them. 

The third danger was not from concealed spearmen. Coming to a 
part of the forest cleared for cultivation, the explorer noticed a giant 
tree, made to appear still taller by growing out of an ant-hill twenty 
feet high; it had fire applied near its roots. 

Dr. Livingstone heard a crack, which told that the fire had done its 
work in felling the tree; but he felt no alarm until he saw the mass of 
wood sway and then descend directly toward him. He ran a few paces 
back, and down it came to the ground within a yard of where he paused; 
breaking into several lengths, it covered him with a cloud of dust. Had 


250 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


the branches not been rotted off previously, he could scarcely have 
escaped. 

His attendants, who had been scattered in all directions, regarded 
this as a good omen, taken in connection with his other escapes that 
day, and came running toward him, crying out: 

“Peace! Peace! You will finish all your work in spite of these peo¬ 
ple, and in spite of everything! ’ ’ 

Reaching Ujiji October 23, he found that all his goods had been sold 
by an Arab, Shereef, to his friends, at nominal prices. In spite of the 
protests of other traders, more than three thousand yards of calico and 
seven hundred pounds of beads had been thus sacrificed. Shereef had 
the assurance, however, even after this was fully made known to Dr. 
Livingstone, to come to shake hands with him; and when the long-suf¬ 
fering traveler rebelled against such behavior at last, and refused to do 
so, the Arab assumed an air of displeasure, as if he had been badly . 
treated. He afterward came twice a day with his salutation of “Balghere 
(good luck)!” until Livingstone told him, that if he were an Arab, his 
(Shereef’s) hand and both ears would be cut off for thieving; and the 
traveler wanted no salutations from him. 

DESTITUTE. 

He was now utterly destitute, and with no prospect of further sup¬ 
plies for months to come; for letters must be dispatched to the coast be¬ 
fore such would be sent to him; and how to pay the bearers of such let¬ 
ters, except m promises, he could not tell. He had made up his mind, if 
he could not get people at Ujiji, to wait until men should come from the 
coast; but to wait in beggary, was what he had never contemplated; and 
he “now felt miserable.” 

The few simple words are significant enough, if we consider the 
patience of the man. Livingstone’s journals are unlike those of every 
other African traveler in the brevity and lack of enthusiasm with which 
the events are chronicled; the cold and undemonstrative nature of the 
Scotchman shows itself most plainly in this way; and especially in re¬ 
spect to his own sufferings. But in this case, we must remember that 
it is something more than natural reluctance to enlarge upon his feel- 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


251 


ings; it is even more than the manly reticence regarding personal phys¬ 
ical pain, which is shown by the great majority of the explorers; it is 
the patience of the Christian, who sees in all the suffering and trouble 
which come upon him, the trial which is to fit him for his Master’s pur¬ 
pose. 

Just as his spirits had reached their lowest ebb, the dawn began to 
break; an Arab merchant, who said that he himself had no goods, of¬ 
fered to sell some ivory, and give the goods so obtained to the stranger. 
This was encouraging; but Livingstone felt that he was not yet at the 
point of accepting such an offer. 

“Not yet, but by and by,” he said to the Arab. 

He had still a very few goods for barter remaining, goods which had 
been left in the care of another Arab than the one who had stolen his 
new stock, which he had deposited before going to Manyuema, in case 
of returning in extreme need. These he was now resolved to use, to 
get to the coast a letter, if possible. He had been full two years without 
any tidings from Europe whatever; he had sent dispatches during that 
time, but as we have seen, they had not reached the coast. 

Such were the circumstances surrounding this great explorer when 
his servants brought him word that an Englishman was approaching 
the town. Susi came running to his master at the top of his speed, and 
in great excitement. He breathlessly gasped out: 

“An Englishman! I see him!” 

In an instant he was off. Dr. Livingstone followed him to the door, 
and saw the caravan approaching the town. Biales of goods, a tin bath, 
huge kettles, cooking-pots, tents, and all the paraphernalia of a well- 
equipped traveler through a country where few or no conveniences were 
to be expected, struck him with a sense of the difference between him¬ 
self and the approaching stranger. 

“This must be a luxurious traveler,” he told himself, “and not one 
at his wit’s end like me.” 


THE STARS AND STRIPES. 

The first glance at the caravan had showed him that Susi had been 
mistaken in one particular—this was not an Englishman, for at the 


252 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION , 


head of the caravan floated the flag of England’s eldest daughter, the 
United States. The stranger was Henry M. Stanley. 

Of the meeting, we need not here give details. Overwhelmed as 
Livingstone was by surprise at the coming of this man, sent by a 



MEETING BETWEEN STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE. 


stranger through the heart of Africa especially to find him if alive, and 
to bring back his bones if he were dead, we could hardly expect that his 
narrative of the meeting would be clear and succinct; he was too bewild¬ 
ered, probably, in spite of his Scotch coolness of head, to remember 
just what took place. Little by little the whole wonderful story came 




















































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


253 


home to him, and he realized that he was once again in communication 
with the outer world. And with this realization, came renewed vigor; 
he was no longer the broken-down old man, spiritless, bitterly disap¬ 
pointed at the failure to reach the points which he had endeavored to 
attain, heart-sick at the duplicity which had left him well-nigh without 
resources in the heart of this great continent; a new life seemed to fill 
his veins, and emotions that had lain dormant in Manyuema revived 
at the tidings that he had to tell. But while struggling to express 
the flood of feeling which so nearly overwhelmed him, these are the 
words he uses: 

‘ ‘ I really do feel extremely grateful, and at the same time I am a lit¬ 
tle ashamed at not being more worthy of the generosity.” 

Mr. Stanley brought news that Sir Roderick Murchison most earn¬ 
estly desired that Lake Tanganyika should be fully explored, and ac¬ 
cordingly, after a little more than two weeks spent at Ujiji, the whole 
party set out for the north of the lake. The start was made November 
16, but a cruise to the head of the lake failed to reveal any passage into 
the Nyanza, or any stream flowing out of Tanganyika; the natives ap¬ 
peared to know nothing of any large lake to the north, and they returned 
to Ujiji a month after they had left it. 

Directly after their return, they made ready for a journey towards 
the east to secure Dr. Livingstone’s goods, the English government 
having granted one thousand pounds for supplies for the explorer, in 
addition to the assistance which Mr. Bennett had commissioned Stan¬ 
ley to bring. Owing to the illness of the younger traveler, however, they 
did not leave Ujiji until two days after Christmas. The same cause 
which had detained them at Ujiji delayed their journey somewhat after 
they had started; and during one stage, Mr. Stanley had to be carried 
on a cot. After a march of fifty-four days, they reached Unyanyembe, 
over three hundred miles away. 

Mr. Stanley was extremely anxious to have Dr. Livingstone return 
to England with him, to recruit his strength; but the old explorer was 
by no means ready to do so. His own judgment told him: 

“All your friends will wish you to make a complete work of the ex¬ 
ploration of the sources of the Nile before you retire.” 


254 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


His daughter Agnes had written: 

‘ ‘ Much as I wish you to come home, I would rather that you finished 
your work to your own satisfaction than return merely to gratify me.” 

In spite of the persuasions of his newly found friend, then, he re¬ 
solved to remain until this work should be accomplished. Probably, in 
the enthusiasm which had been re-awakened in his breast, and the re¬ 
turn of a measure of good health, he did not realize what inroads upon 
his constitution had been made by the fever from which he had suffered 
so much after the theft of his medicines. Feeling so much better, he 
fancied himself a strong man again. 

They remained at Unyanymebe until the 14th of March, Dr. Living¬ 
stone preparing dispatches and letters for the outer world to which his 
companion was so shortly to return. On the date mentioned, they sep¬ 
arated ; communication between them was kept up for some time; and 
it was arranged that Mr. Stanley was to procure men for Dr. Living¬ 
stone in Zanzibar, and send them forward to Unyanyembe, where he 
was to await them. The time thus spent in waiting was utilized by com¬ 
pleting many calculations which lack of time had caused him to leave 
unfinished, and by planning his work for the future. Briefly stated, it 
was his intention to allow the remainder of the year 1872 (at that time, 
five months,) for the journey to his new field of exploration; devote 
the whole of 1873 to his work, and return in 1874 to home and a well- 
earned repose. 

It was the middle of August before the caravan of porters arrived 
at Unyanyembe. They numbered fifty-seven. Besides these new men, 
of whom John and Jacob Wainwriglit are to be remembered, Dr. Liv¬ 
ingstone had five old servants with him—Susi, Chuma and Amoda, 
who had been employed by him during the Zambesi expedition, and 
Mabruki and Gardner, two of the Nassick boys who had left Zanzibar 
with his caravan at the beginning of the present journey. 

Leaving a sufficient quantity of goods with Sultan bin Ali to secure 
their return journey from Unyanyembe to the coast, the caravan set 
out August 23. A week later, the two Nassicks had, “from sheer lazi¬ 
ness,” allowed all the cows to stray; they were found a long way off, 
but one was missing, and was never recovered. One cow, their best 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


255 


milker, had been lost three days after starting. Two of the pagazi, 
engaged at a village on their road, deserted, taking with them a quan¬ 
tity of calico belonging to the men. Thus the story goes on. 

The latter half of September, they were much delayed by sickness, 
both of the leader and of his followers. They came in sight of Tangan¬ 
yika October 8, and slowly approached the lake from which so short a 
distance seemed to divide them. Their course was nearly due south 
to Fipa, as that was the town to which their steps were now directed; 
they had been many times assured in Unyanyembe that the route to 

this point was much shorter and less difficult than that to Ujiji. 

« 

From this point they skirted the shores of the lake; and early in No¬ 
vember came within sight of the Luazi. For some time past, Living¬ 
stone had been tormented by doubts about the Lualaba; he was in search 
of the ultimate sources of the Nile, not considering that the discovery 
of the two Nyanzas had settled this vexed question; what if, after all, 
the Lualaba should prove to be a tributary of the Congo? The ques¬ 
tion occurs more than once in his journal, even before the meeting with 
Stanley, showing that the idea was gaining hold upon his mind. Still, 
he pressed on, resolved to find out for himself what was the destina¬ 
tion of this great river. 

The journey now turned toward the southwest, for he wished to visit 
Lake Bangweolo again, and ascertain what connection it might have 
with a great river-system. The journey was without special incident; 
there was the same old story of natives angered by the outrageous treat¬ 
ment of Arab traders, and consequently jealous of all strangers; of ef¬ 
forts to get food, sometimes unavailing because of this jealousy; of sick¬ 
ness of the men; and finally, here and there we find the simple word 
“ill” among the entries in his journal, coupled sometimes with a state¬ 
ment of the length of time during which his illness had continued. Oc¬ 
casionally, the feeble writing testifies more plainly than words that his 
strength was failing. 

February 13, they arrived within sight of Lake Bangweolo; the plain 
surrounding the lake was under water, and it was necessary to obtain 
canoes to make their way along the shore of the enlarged lake. Halt¬ 
ing at the village of a chief named Matipa, they entered into negotia- 


256 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


tions for these vessels. Matipa showed himself at first very friendly, 
but on one pretext or another, put off the arrival of the canoes in a suf¬ 
ficient number to serve their purpose. At last, they found that he was 
deliberately acting treacherously; Dr. Livingstone then took posses¬ 
sion of Matipa’s own hut, fired his pistol through the roof, and left ten 
men to guard the village. Matipa fled to another village, while his peo¬ 
ple sent off and brought a number of canoes, so that Livingstone’s men 
were enabled to embark at once. Later intercourse showed that Matipa 
was thoroughly frightened by the warlike demonstration, and became 
once more very friendly. 

HARDSHIPS. 

An entry under date of March 24 will give some idea of the hard¬ 
ships endured at this time, when the end was so rapidly approaching: 

“We punted six hours to a little islet without a tree, and no sooner 
did we land than a pitiless, pelting rain came on. We turned up a canoe 
to get shelter. We shall reach the Chambeze to-morrow. The wind tore 
the tent out of our hands, and damaged it, too; the loads are all soaked, 
and with the cold, it is bitterly uncomfortable. A man put my bed into 
the bilge, and never said ‘Bale out,’ so I was safe for a wet night, but 
it turned out better than I expected. No grass, but we made a bed of 
the loads, and a blanket fortunately put into a bag.” 

It is interesting, in this portion of his journal, to note what care Susi 
and Chuma took of their master. He does not seem to realize it him¬ 
self, yet from his own record we see that, day by day, their watchful¬ 
ness over him was increasing, as they saw his strength diminishing. It 
was on this journey that, for the first time, he was unable to wade the 
streams which they crossed on foot; and all the way to Bangweolo, 
wherever they came to a sponge or a river, Chuma carried his master 
on his strong and willing shoulders, even though the main stream came 
up to Susi’s mouth as they waded along. 

The voyage over this overflowed land was far from easy sailing. On 
the seventh of April, he records that they were lost for five hours on the 
grassy prairies, which were covered with from three to five feet of 
water. The next morning they obtained guides from a village within 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 


257 


hearing, who caused them to take their large canoe along a course 
where the water was sometimes but fifteen inches deep; and although 
the men put all their strength to her, she stopped at every haul with a 
jerk, as if in a hank of adhesive plaster. 

But exertion and exposure had further weakened him; and a few 
days later we find the entry that he was so weak he could hardly walk, 
but tottered along nearly two hours, and then lay down quite done 
over. At this resting-place, he made coffee—the last of his stock—and 
tried to go on again; but in an hour’s time was compelled to give it up. 
Even then, he was very unwilling to be carried, but, “on being pressed,” 
allowed the men to help him on by relays to Chinama, a highly culti¬ 
vated region. 

From this point forward we carry the. story forward by means of 
the narration of his two faithful servants. April 21, he tried 
to ride the donkey, but was so weak that he fell to the ground utterly 
exhausted and faint. Chuma carried him back to the village which 
they had just left, and placed him in his hut. The next day, they con¬ 
trived a sort of litter, known to the natives at a kitanda, a framework 
covered with grass, and having a blanket laid upon it. On this he was 
placed, while Chuma walked by his side, to steady the sick man when 
the bearers stopped; for he was so weak that he could not otherwise 
have kept from falling off. 

HIS LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. 

They arrived at the village of Kalunganjova, on the banks of the 
Molilamo, April 27. From this point, they sent out to buy food. The 
effort was unsuccessful, for the Mazitu had made raids through that 
country, and taken everything. The chief, nevertheless, made them a 
substantial present of a kid and three baskets of ground-nuts; and 
those who had food were quite willing to sell it for beads. The chief 
visited Dr. Livingstone on the morning of the 29th, and assured him 
that he would personally accompany the caravan to the crossing-place 
of the river, in order to be sure that canoes were furnished as he 
wished them to be. 

But when they were ready to set out, Dr. Livingstone was too weak 


258 


LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION 


to walk from kis bed in the but to tbe kitanda at tbe door. It was there¬ 
fore necessary, because tbe door was so narrow, to break down one of 
the frail walls of tbe hut; through tbe breach thus made, tbe bearers 
brought tbe litter close to tbe sick man’s bed, and be was carefully 
lifted upon it. 



LIVINGSTONE’S LAST JOURNEY. 


With almost incredible gentleness, when we remember that only 
love had taught them bow to deal with the sick, these men, who had un¬ 
til the last few years been rude and untaught savages, lifted him from 
the kitanda into the canoe, and again into the litter when they had 
crossed the river; for the canoe was not wide enough to admit the 
kitanda with the sick man upon it. Susi hurried on ahead of the cara¬ 
van, that a hut might be built at Chitambo’s village, which was their 
present destination, by the time that his master arrived. 

The natives stood in silent wonder as he was helped from his litter 
into the hut, for his praises had reached them long ago. This was the 
“good man,” as he was emphatically called by the tribes that knew 
































































LIVINGSTONE’S LAST EXPEDITION. 259 

him best; and they watched him till he was lost to their view inside 
the hut. 

The next day, the chief paid a visit of ceremony to his guest; but 
Dr. Livingstone was obliged, after an effort to talk to him, to send him 
away, telling him to come again the next day, when he hoped to have 
more strength. The day wore on, and night came; some of the men 
took to their huts; it w r as the duty of others to keep watch. The boy 
who was aj^pointed to sleep just within his master’s hut, summoned Susi 
about eleven o’clock; Livingstone asked a few questions, first about 
noises that he heard outside, and then about distances, the latter show¬ 
ing that his mind was wandering. An hour later, the man was again 
summoned, and attended to his master’s wants, getting the medicine 
which was required. 

“All right; you can go out now,’’ said the white man. 

The hours passed on; it was not yet dawn when the boy came to 
Susi again, this time in fright: 

“Come to Bwana; I am afraid; I don’t know if he is alive.” 

Susi called his immediate companions, and six men went to the doc¬ 
tor’s hut. A candle, stuck by its own wax to a box, was burning at the 
head of the rude bed; the light showed their master’s form, kneeling 
by the side of the bed, his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. 
He gave no sign of hearing them; one of them gently touched his cheek; 
it was quite cold; at some time between midnight and dawn, of the 
1st of May, 1873, David Livingstone had knelt in prayer, and died upon 
his knees. 

# 

Livingstone’s remains were taken back to England and interred in 
Westminster Abbey. 

Just one year before the day that he died he had finished a letter to 
the New York Herald, trying to enlist American zeal to stop the east- 
coast slave-trade. His concluding words were: “All I can add, in 
very loneliness, is, may Heaven’s rich blessing come down on every 
one, American, English or Turk, who will help to heal the open sore of 
the world.” Nothing could better represent the man, and these words 
consequent^ were inscribed on the tablet at his grave in Westminster. 



THE PROMISED LAND—END OP THE GREAT CONGO FOREST. 





































































































































































































































































CHAPTER XIX. 

STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


Birth and Youth of Stanley—To America—In the Confederate Army—In the U. S. Navy— 
Adventures in Turkey—In Abyssinia—In Spain—Find Livingstone—Off to Zanzibar— 
Shooting Hippopotami—News of Livingstone—An Insolent Fellow—Attempt to Assassin¬ 
ate Stanley—Fever—War—Mirambo and His Misdeeds. 

* 

W HILE Livingstone for years was lost in the wilds of Africa 
several unsuccessful attempts were made to locate him. Only 
one man succeeded in accomplishing what so many had at¬ 
tempted, viz., Henry M. Stanley, and the story of his adventurous jour¬ 
ney sounds like a tale from the Arabian Nights. 

In the year 1840, there was born, near the town of Denbigh, in Wales, 
a boy, who was named after his father and grandfather, John Holland, 
or Rowlands, as the name is sometimes anglicized. His father died 
when he was but two years old; his mother married again, not many 
years afterward. He was for several years a pupil at the poor-house 
of St. Asaph, where he procured the best education that that institu¬ 
tion of learning could afford. Leaving this, he was employed for a 
year as a teacher at Mold, in Flintshire; but finding this quiet life very 
little to his taste, he made his way to Liverpool, and there shipped 
as cabin-boy in a vessel bound for New Orleans. There, while look¬ 
ing for employment, he came into contact with a wealthy, childless 
merchant named Stanley. This gentleman liked the boy so well that he 
employed him about various parts of his extensive business, promot¬ 
ing him rapidly; and finally adopted him as his own son, promising to 
provide liberally for him. 

But the youth had a restless spirit, and could not be prevailed upon 
to settle down and enjoy the good things of this life unless a great deal 
of the spice of variety could be added to them. He wandered away into 
the wildest parts of Arkansas; thence he made his way overland to 

261 


262 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


California, making friends with many of the Indians on the way, and 
sitting gravely by their council fires when it so pleased him to do. At 
last, he returned to New Orleans. His adopted father had given him 
up as dead, and welcomed him as one who had come back from beyond 
the grave. 

The trial of thus losing his adopted son, as he thought that he had, 
had been a severe one to Mr. Stanley; but he was not destined to suf¬ 
fer again from the young man’s roving disposition. Shortly after his 
return, the elder Stanley (for of course his adopted son had assumed 
his name) died suddenly; investigation showed that he had left no will; 
and the angry relatives whom young Rollant-Stanley was to have sup¬ 
planted as the heir, inherited all his fortune. The young man was 
turned adrift, receiving from- the affectionate adopted father nothing 
but the name of Henry Moreland Stanley. 

IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY. 

Very shortly afterward, the war between the States broke out; and 
young Stanley, being in New Orleans, and surrounded by Confederate 
influences, enlisted in the Southern army. After various adventures 
and some hair-breadth escapes, he was captured by the enemy, and 
held as a prisoner of war. The case was a hopeless one; there was no 
chance of regaining his late comrades; and the soldier promptly took 
the oath of allegiance to the United States and enlisted in the United 
States navy. It would seem that he had none of the qualities which 
would recommend him for promotion on board of a man-of-war where 
the discipline was peculiarly rigid, as it was on the iron-clad Ticon- 
deroga; but in a few months’ time we find him acting ensign. 

After the war was over, his ship was sent to the Mediterranean. 
Here he obtained leave, and, with two of his comrades, started on a pe¬ 
destrian tour of a part of Syria. They were attacked by Turkish bri¬ 
gands, and only with great difficulty were they able to make their way 
back to Constantinople, there to appeal to the American minister for 
assistance and redress. But for the excellent generalship of Stanley, 
they wou’d never have reached the Turkish capital. 

It is a little doubtful whether this adventure occurred before or after 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


263 



against King Theodore. It is (or was) an article of firm belief in Eng¬ 
land that the government receives the earliest news from the seat of 
war, and gives out the information to the newspapers; and that news¬ 
paper correspondents are simply to fill up the outlines thus kindly 
furnished by the authorities. Mr. Stanley somewhat astonished the 
people of the War Department by providing the London newspapers 
with information which had not then reached the office of the Minis¬ 
ter. It was one evidence of the energy which was derived in part from 


THE ALOETOGU. 


he had left the United States service; although the probabilities are 
that it was previous to doffing his uniform. Whatever the truth may be 
in the case, he left the navy about this time, and before he revisited his 
native place, a very few months after his Turkish adventure. 


WITH THE NEW YORK HERALD. 


Returning to America, he was employed as special correspondent 
of the New York Herald , and given a roving commission. His duties^ 
first took him to Abyssinia, where the British were then waging war 



























264 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


Mother Nature, and in part learned from the people of his adopted 
country. 

The war over, he returned to the United States, and was attached, 
still in the capacity of special correspondent of the Herald, to the 
Indian Commission of 1867. In 1868-9, we find him in Spain, fol¬ 
lowing the fortunes of the royal forces and those of the republicans, 
as the latter strove to dethrone Isabella II. While he was portraying 
the situation for the benefit of the readers of the Herald , he received, 
October 16, 1869, a dispatch from Paris. It ran thus: 

“Come to Paris on important business,” 
and was signed by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the manager of the 
New York Herald. The telegram reached him at ten A. M.; he at once 
proceeded to make ready; his pictures and books were packed in a 
hurry; his laundress was not given time to finish drying his clothes; 
by noon he was ready, having only to say good-bye to his friends. 

At three in the afternoon, that being the hour at which the first ex¬ 
press left Madrid after the receipt of the telegram, he was on his way, 
arriving in Paris the following night. He went straight to the Grand 
Hotel, and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett’s room. 

A voice bade him enter; he found Mr. Bennett in bed. 

“Who are you?” was the first question. 

‘ ‘ My name is Stanley, ’ ’ was the reply. 

“Ah, yes, sit down; I have important business for you.” 

Throwing over his shoulders his robe de chambre, Mr. Bennett 
asked: 

“Where do you think Livingstone is?” 

“I really do not know, sir,” rejoined the subordinate, rather taken 
aback (if Stanley ever was taken aback) at the suddenness of the ques¬ 
tion. 

“Do you think he is alive?” 

“He may be, and he may not be.” 

“Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found, and I am going 
to send you to find him.” 

“What!” ejaculated Stanley; “do you really think that I can find 
Dr. Livingstone? Do you mean me to go to Central Africa?” 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


265 


“Yes, I mean that you shall go and find him wherever you may hear 
that he is, and to get what news you can of him and perhaps”—deliver¬ 
ing himself thoughtfully and deliberately—“the old man may be in 
want; take enough with you to help him, should he require it. Of course 
you will act according to your own plans, and do what you think best 
—but 


FIND LIVINGSTONE.” 

The subordinate wondered at the cool order of sending one to Cen¬ 
tral Africa to search for a man whom most men believed to be dead; 
and asked: 

“Have you considered seriously the great expense you are likely to 
incur on account of this little journey?” 

“What will it cost?” asked the chief, abruptly. 

“Burton and Speke’s journey to Central Africa cost between three' 
thousand and five thousand pounds, and I fear it cannot be done under 
two thousand five hundred pounds.” 

“Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thousand pounds 
now; and when you have gone through that, draw another thousand, 
and when that is spent, draw another thousand; and when you have 
finished that, draw another thousand, and so on; but, FIND LIVING¬ 
STONE.” 

He was not to go directly to Africa; or at least not to the part where 
he might expect to find Livingstone. He was to go first to the inaugura¬ 
tion of the Suez Canal; then proceed up the Nile, find out what he could 
about Baker’s expedition under the authority of the Khedive (the cele¬ 
brated Englishman was then just starting for Upper Egypt), write up 
a practical guide for Lower Egypt, go on to Jerusalem, visit Constan¬ 
tinople, the Crimea and its battle-grounds, cross the Caucasus to the 
Caspian Sea, write up Persepolis and Bagdad, get to India by a jour¬ 
ney across Persia, and thence start to Zanzibar, if news of Livingstone 
had not been received in the meantime. Having mapped out this little 
program, Mr. Bennett told him that this was all, and bade him good¬ 
night. 

He followed out his instructions to the letter, arriving in India in 


266 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


August, 1870; on October 12, be sailed from Bombay tc Mauritius, tbe 
journey occupying thirty-seven days; and at last arrived at Zanzibar, 
January 6, 1871. Here he was well received by the United States con¬ 
sul, Captain Webb; and had the good fortune, as he then esteemed it, 
to meet with Dr. Kirk, the coadjutor of Dr. Livingstone during the Zam¬ 
besi expedition. 

Many questions now occurred to the traveler, which he had no means 
of answering. They were such as these: How much money is required? 
How many pagazis, or carriers? How many soldiers, free black men, 
natives of Zanzibar, or freed slaves from the interior? How much 
cloth? How many beads? How much wire? What kinds of cloth 
are required for the different tribes? He studied the volumes of Afri¬ 
can travels at his command, chiefly Burton, Speke, and Baker; but in¬ 
formation such as he sought was not to be found in them. Even the 
hints in Baker’s “Ismailia” were not available, for the materials for 
that volume had not yet been collected; and Baker does not answer 
there such questions as these. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 

An insuperable obstacle to rapid transit in Africa is the want of car¬ 
riers; and as speed was the main object of the expedition under his 
command, his duty was to lessen this difficulty as much as possible. 
His carriers could only be engaged after arriving at Bagamoyo, on the 
main land. He had over twenty good donkeys ready, and he thought a 
cart adapted for the goat-paths of Africa might prove an advantage, 
xlccordingly, he had one constructed, eighteen inches wide and five feet 
long, supplied with two fore-wheels of a light American wagon, more 
for the purpose of conveying the narrow ammunition-boxes. He esti¬ 
mated that if a donkey could carry to Unyanyembe a load of four frasil- 
ahs, or one hundred and forty pounds, he ought to be able to draw eight 
frasilahs on such a cart, which would be equal to the carrying capaci¬ 
ties of four stout pagazis. 

When his purchases were completed, and he beheld them piled up, 
tier after tier, and row upon row, he was rather abashed at his own 
temerity. Here were nearly six tons of material; and as a man’s maxi- 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE 


267 


mum load does not exceed seventy pounds, his eleven thousand pounds 
would require about one hundred and sixty men. 

Shortly before their departure from Zanzibar, Mr. Stanley was 
presented to the sultan, who gave him letters to his officers at Baga- 
moyo and Kaole, and a general introductory letter to all Arab mer¬ 
chants whom he might meet on the road; and concluded his remarks 
to the traveler with the expressed hope that, on whatever mission he 
was bound, he would be perfectly successful. 



THE LESSEE CIVET. 


OFF FOR CENTRAL AFRICA. 

By the fourth of February, all his preparations were completed; 
and on the fifth, the New York Herald expedition sailed from Zanzi¬ 
bar to the mainland. This space has been devoted to the fitting out of 
the expedition, because only a fairly detailed account can give any 
idea of the difficulties which an experienced traveler, of more than 
ordinary intelligence and energy (to put it mildly) encounters in or- 











268 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


ganizing an expedition to Central Africa, even with unlimited means at 
his command. 

On the 25th of March, exactly seventy-three days after his arrival 
at Zanzibar, Stanley’s fifth caravan, led by himself, left the town of 
Bagamoyo for the first journey westward. The other caravans had 
preceded him, some by as much as a month. They left Bagamoyo, the 
attraction of all the curious, with much eclat; and defiled up a narrow 
lane shaded almost to twilight by the dense umbrage of two parallel 
rows of mimosas. They were all in the highest spirits. The first 
camp, Sliamba Gonera, they arrived at in one hour and thirty minutes, 
equal to three and one-fourth miles. The first or “little journey,” 
was performed very well, “considering,” as the Irishman says. The 
boy Selim upset the cart not more than three times; Zaidi, the soldier, 
only once let his donkey, which carried his master’s box of ammuni¬ 
tion and one bag of his clothes, lie in a puddle of black water. The 
clothes had to be re-washed; the ammunition-box, thanks to its owner’s 
prevision, was water-proof. Kamma perhaps knew the art of donkey¬ 
driving, but had sung himself into oblivion of the difficulties with 
which an animal of the pure asinine breed has to contend, such as not 
knowing the road, and inability to resist the temptation of straying 
into a manioc-field; and the donkey, misunderstanding the direction in 
which he was required to go, ran off at full speed along an opposite 
road, until his pack got unbalanced, and he was fain to come to the 
earth. But these incidents were trivial, of no importance, and natural 
to the first “little journey” in Africa. 

The road was a mere foot-path, and led over a soil which, though 
sandy, was of surprising fertility, producing grain and vegetables a 
hundred fold, the sowing and planting of which was done in the most 
unskilful manner. In their fields, at heedless labor, were men and 
women in the scantiest costumes, compared with which Adam and 
Eve, in their fig-leaf apparel, must have been modesty indeed. 

JUNGLES AND OTHER OBSTACLES. 

They were detained for three days at this first stopping-place; but 
shortly after leaving it reached the turbid Kingani, famous for its hip- 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


269 


popotami. They began to thread the jungle along its right bank until 
they were halted point-blank by a narrow sluice having an immeas- 
urable depth of black mud. The difficulty presented by this was very 
grave, although its breadth was barely eight feet; the donkeys, and 
least of all the horses, could not be made to traverse two poles like 
the biped carriers, neither could they be driven into the sluice, where 
they would quickly founder. The only available way of crossing it in 
safety was by means of a bridge, to endure in this conservative land for 
generations as the handiwork of the Wasungu. So they set to work, 
there being no help for it, with American axes, to build a bridge. It 
was compassed of six stout trees thrown across; over these were laid 
crosswise fifteen pack saddles, these covered again with a thick layer 
of grass. All the animals crossed it safely; and then for the third 
time that morning the process of wading was performed. 

A half-mile to the north, and they reached the ferry; while the 
work of unloading the donkeys was going forward, Stanley sat down 
on a condemned canoe to amuse himself with the hippopotami by pep¬ 
pering their thick skulls with his No. 12 smooth-bore. One old fellow, 
with the look of a sage, was tapped close to the right ear by one of his 
smaller bullets; instead of submerging himself as others had done, he 
coolly turned round his head as if to ask: 

“Why this waste of valuable cartridges on us?” 

The response to this mute inquiry of his sagesliip was an ounce and 
a quarter bullet from the smoothbore, which made him bellow with 
pain, and in a few moments he rose again tumbling in his death 
agonies. As his groans were so piteous, the sportman refrained from 
a useless sacrifice of life, and left the amphibious horde in peace. 

Mr. Stanley was anxious to try what a good watcli-dog might do 
to protect him from the unmannerly Wagogo, of whom he had heard 
much from the Arabs; and had accordingly brought one with him. He 
found it of very great use, in keeping out of his tent these ruffians of 
the wilderness. Shortly after crossing the above-named river, the 
fifth caravan became the fourth, by reason of delays which sickness im¬ 
posed upon that which had started the earlier. 


270 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE 



Hi 


AN OLD HIPPOPOTAMUS WITH THE TOOK OF A SAGE, 



































































































































































































































































STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


271 


THE RAINY SEASON. 

They pushed on toward Kingaru, the rainy season having now 
begun, and made travel very difficult. The natives poured into camp 
from the villages in the woods with their vendibles. Foremost among 
these, as in duty bound, came the chief, bearing three measures of ma- 
tama and a half-measure of rice, of which he begged, with paternal 
smiles, the traveler’s acceptance. But under the smiling mask, bleared 
eyes, and wrinkled front of him was visible the soul of trickery, which 
was of the cunningest kind. Responding under the same mask adopted 
by this knavish elder, Stanley said: 

“The chief of Kingaru has called me a rich sultan. If I am a rich 
sultan why comes not the chief with a rich present to me that he 
might get a rich return?” 

Said he, with another leer of his wrinkled visage: 

“Kingaru is poor, there is no matama in the village.” 

To this appeal, Mr. Stanley replied that since there was no matama 
in the village, he would pay the chief half a shukka, or a yard of 
cloth, which would be exactly equivalent to his present; that if the 
chief preferred to call his small basketful a present, the white man 
would be content to call his yard of cloth a present. With this logic 
the chief had to be satisfied. 

One of the two horses brought from Zanzibar died the next day, and 
by the orders of the leader, was buried, in order that the decaying 
flesh might not affect the health of the people of Kingaru. This con¬ 
sideration, however, was but poorly repaid; for the chief demanded 
that the white man should pay a fine of two doti of Merikani for his 
presumption in burying the horse within his domain. To this Stanley 
replied by demanding how many soldiers he had. The question was 
repeated before the answer was given that he had none, only a few 
young men. To this the white man retorted: 

“Oh, I thought you might have a thousand men with you, by your 
going to fine a strong white man, who has plenty of guns and soldiers, 
two doti for burying a dead horse.” 

The chief was staggered but not convinced; whereupon Stanley, 


272 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


after explaining the sanitary reasons for burying the animal, gener¬ 
ously offered to repair his error at once: 

“This minute my soldiers shall dig him out again, and cover up 
the soil as it was before; and the horse shall be left where he died. 
Ho! Bombay, take soldiers with jembes to dig my horse out of the 
ground, drag him to where he died, and make everything ready for 
a march to-morrow morning.” 



azara’s agouti. 


Kingaru, his voice considerably higher, and his head moving to 
and fro with emotion, cries out: 

“No, no, master! Let not the white man get angry. The horse is 
dead, and now lies buried; let him remain so, since he is already there; 
and let us be friends again.” 

The second horse died that night. Other misfortunes came. Out 
of a force of twenty-five men, one deserted, and ten were on the sick- 
























STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE . 


273 


list. They left Ivingaru April 6; and the long stay there had com¬ 
pletely demoralized soldiers and pagazis. Only a few of them had 
strength to reach Imbiki before night; the others, attending the laden 
donkeys, put in an appearance next morning, in a lamentable state of 
mind and body. 

At Muhalleh, which they reached a little after the middle of April, 
they met Selim bin Bashid, bound eastward, with a huge caravan carry¬ 
ing three hundred ivory tusks. This good Arab, besides welcoming 
the newcomer with a present of rice, gave him news of Livingstone. 
He had met the old traveler at Ujiji, had lived in the next hut to him 
for three weeks, described him as looking old, with long gray mus¬ 
taches and beard, just recovered from severe illness, looking very 
wan; when fully recovered Livingstone intended to visit a country 
called Manyuema by way of Marungu. 

AN INSOLENT FELLOW. 

But illness was not the only danger with which he had to contend. 
Of the two white men hired at Zanzibar, Farquhar had shown himself 
to be inexcusably extravagant in the expenditure of the stores com¬ 
mitted to his care. He was continually crying out like a sick baby for 
half a dozen people to wait upon him, and if they did not happen to 
understand the English language in which he addressed them, he poured 
out a volley of the most profane abuse that ever offended the ears of 
a Christian gentleman. The soldiers were in such dread of his insane 
violence that they feared to go near him. He was ill with a disease of 
which Stanley could secure no definite description of the symptoms; 
and by his weight and see-sawing method of riding killed every donkey 
that he rode. 

But Shaw was even worse to deal with than Farquhar; and since 
he had been with the caravan which Stanley led in person, the leader’s 
patience, so far as he was concerned, was about exhausted, when on 
May 15th, the crisis came. It was at breakfast time; the meal had 
just been served, and Stanley had asked Shaw to carve. 

“What dog’s meat is this?” he asked, in the most insolent way 

imaginable. 


374 


STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


“What do you mean?” asked Stanley. 

Then ensued a volley of abuse, tempered with profanity; to which 
the indignant chief replied by a recapitulation of what they had brought 
upon him; closing with an expostulation at being sworn at at his own 
table, and reminding Shaw that he was his (Stanley’s) servant. An 
oath was the rejoinder; but before Mr. Shaw could say more, he had 
measured his length on the ground. 

He thereupon demanded his discharge; to which Stanley most will¬ 
ingly agreed; giving orders at once that Shaw’s tent should be struck, 
and that he and his baggage should be escorted two hundred yards out¬ 
side the camp. After breakfast was over, Stanley explained to Farqu- 
har how necessary it was for him to be able to proceed; that as Farqu- 
har was sick, and would probably be unable to march for a time, it 
would be better that he should be left in some quiet place, under the 
care of a good chief, who would, for a consideration, look after him 
until he got w r ell. To this Farquhar had agreed. 

Stanley had barely finished speaking before Bombay came to the 
door and informed him that Mr. Shaw would like to speak to him. He 
went out to the gate of the camp, and there met Shaw, looking ex¬ 
tremely penitent and ashamed. He commenced to ask pardon, and 
began imploring Stanley to take him back again; promising that he 
should never find fault with him again. Stanley held out his hand to 
him, saying: 

“Don’t mention it, my dear fellow. Quarrels occur in the best of 
families. Since you apologize, there is an end of it.” 

That night as Stanley was falling asleep, he heard a shot, and a 
bullet tore through his tent, a few inches above his body. He snatched 
his revolvers and rushed out of his tent, and asked the men about the 
watchfires, “Who shot?” They had all jumped up, rather started at 
the sudden report. 

“Who fired that gun?” 

“Bana Mdogo,” said one, (the little master, i. e., Shaw). 

Stanley lit a candle, and walked with it to Shaw’s tent. 

“Shaw did you fire?” 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE . 275 

There was no answer. He seemed to be asleep, he was breathing 
so hard. 

“Shaw! Shaw! did you fire that shot?” 

“Eh—eh?” said he, suddenly awaking—“me?—me fire? I have 
been asleep.” 

Stanley’s eye caught sight of his gun lying near him. He seized it, 
felt it, put his little finger down the barrel. The gun was warm, his 
finger was black from the burnt gunpowder. 

“What is this?” he asked, holding his finger up; “the gun is warm. 
The men tell me you fired.” 

“Ah, yes,” replied Shaw; “I remember it. I dreamed I saw a thief 
pass my door, and I fired. Ah—yes—I forgot. I did fire. Why, what 
i<5 the matter?” 

“Oh, nothing,” said Stanley. “But I would advise you in future, 
in order to avoid all suspicion, not to fire into my tent, or at least so near 
me. I might get hurt, you know, in which case ugly reports would get 
about, and this perhaps would be disagreeable, as you are probably 
aware. Good night.” 

But w r hat a clumsy way to murder! Surely, had he done so, Stan¬ 
ley’s own men would have punished him as the crime deserved. A 
thousand better opportunities than this would be presented in a month’s 
march. Stanley could only account for it by supposing he was momen¬ 
tarily insane. 

The next thing which must be done was to provide a home for 
Farquhar until he should be able to return to the coast. Leucole, the 
chief of the village, with whom Stanley made arrangements for Farqu¬ 
har’s protection and comfort, suggested that he should appoint some 
man in his employ to wait on him, and interpret his wishes to Leucole’s 
people. Making inquiry, Stanley was assured by Bombay that any 
soldier whom he might appoint for this purpose would obey him until, 
he was gone, and then run away. Despite Bombay’s assertion, the 
leader inquired of each man personally whether he would be willing to 
stay behind, and wait on the sick Musungu (white man). From each 
man lie received an answer in the negative; they were afraid of him, 
he damned them so; and Ulimengo mimicked him so faithfully, yet so 


276 


STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


ludicrously, that it was almost impossible to abstain from laughing. 
As, however, the sick man absolutely needed some one to attend him, 
Stanley was compelled to use his authority; and Jako, who could speak 
English, was, despite his protestations and prayers, appointed. Six 
months provisions of white beads, besides a present for Leucole, a car¬ 
bine, ammunition and tea were set aside for Farquhar’s wants. 

This took place in the neighborhood of the Mpwapwa range of 
mountains, a country memorable to the traveler by reason of its plen¬ 
tiful and excellent milk, and its equally plentiful earwigs, for which 
lie did not feel quite so grateful as for the milk. Second to the earwigs 
in importance and numbers he found the white ants, whose powers of 
destructiveness were simply awful. Mats, cloth, portmanteaus, clothes, 
in short, every article he possessed, seemed to be on the verge of de¬ 
struction; and as he witnessed their voracity, he felt anxious lest his 
tent should be devoured while he slept. 

MIRAMBO AND HIS MISDEEDS. 

The road to Ujiji was closed by Mirambo, chief of Uyoweh; what 
was to be done? Stanley found himself in the midst of preparations 
for war on the part of the Arabs of Unyanyembe. 

This Mirambo of Uyoweh, it seems, for the past few years had 
been in a state of chronic discontent with the policies of the neighbor¬ 
ing chiefs. Formerly a pagazi for an Arab, he had now assumed regal 
power, with the usual knack of unconscionable rascals who care not by 
what means they step into power. When the chief of Uyoweh died, 
Mirambo, who was head of a gang of robbers infesting the forests of 
Wilyankuru, suddenly entered Uyoweh, and constituted himself lord 
paramount by force. Some feats of enterprise, which he performed 
to the enrichment of all those who recognized his authority, estab¬ 
lished him firmly in his position. This was but a beginning; he carried 
war through Ugara to Ukonongo, through Usagozi to the borders of 
Uvinza, and after destroying the population over three degrees of 
latitude, he conceived a grievance against Mkasiwa, and against the 
Arabs, because they would not sustain him in his ambitious projects 
against their ally and friend with whom they were living in peace. 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. • 277 

The first outrage which this audacious man committed against the 
Arabs was the halting of an Ujiji-bound caravan, and the demand for 
five kegs of gunpowder, five guns, and five bales of cloth. This ex¬ 
traordinary demand, after expending more than a day in fierce contro- 



THE GEMSBOK. 


versy, was paid; but the Arabs, if they were surprised at the exorbi¬ 
tant blackmail demanded of them, were more than ever surprised when 
told fo return the way that they came; and that no Arab caravan should 
pass to Ujiji except over his dead body. 




278 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE 



THE ZEBRA, 






















































STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


279 


One road to Ujiji had been tried, and had been found impassable. 
The southern route was not well known to those about him; and they 
vaguely hinted of want of water and robber Wazavira as obstacles in 
the way. 

But before he could venture on this new route, he had to employ a 
new set of men, as those whom he took to Mfuto considered their en¬ 
gagement at an end, and the fact of five of their number being killed 
rather damped their ardor for traveling. It was useless to hope that 
Wanyamwezi could be engaged, because it was against their custom 
to go with caravans, as carriers, during war-times. His position was 
most serious; but although he had a good excuse for returning to the 
coast, he felt that he must die sooner than return. 

While Stanley was still uncertain what to do, or how to procure 
a sufficient number of pagazis, firing was heard from the direction of 
Tabora, where the Arabs were still encamped. Some of the men who 
were sent out to ascertain the cause came running back with the in¬ 
formation that Mirambo had attacked Tabora with over two thousand 
men, and that a force of over one thousand Matuta, who had allied 
themselves with him for the sake of plunder, had come suddenly upon 
Tabora, attacking from opposite directions. Later in the day, or about 
noon, the way was crowded with fugitives from Tabora, who were 
rushing to Kwihara for protection. From these people, Stanley re¬ 
ceived the sad information that the noble Khamis bin Abdullah, with 
many of his adherents, had been slain. Perceiving that his people were 
ready to stand by him, Stanley made preparations for defense by 
boring loop-holes for muskets into the stout clay walls of his tembe. 
They were made so quickly, and seemed so admirably adapted for the 
efficient defense of the tembe that his men got quite brave; and Wang- 

wana refugees with guns in their hands, driven out of Tabora, asked to 

• 

be admitted to this tembe to assist in its defense. Livingstone’s men 
were also collected, and invited to help defend their master’s goods 
against Mirambo’s supposed attack. By night, Stanley had one hun¬ 
dred and fifty armed men in his courtyard, stationed at every possible 
point where an attack was to be expected. The next day, Mirambo had 
threatened, he would come to Kwihara; Stanley hoped that he would 


280 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


come, and was resolved that if he came within range of an American 
rifle, it should be seen what virtue lies in American lead. 



The tembe was fortified 
so strongly that Stanley ex¬ 
pressed it as his firm con¬ 
viction that ten thousand 
Africans could not take it; 
four or five hundred Euro¬ 
peans without camion, or 
fifty with its aid, he adds, 
might take it. But having- 
expended all this care, and 
waited so anxiously to give 
Mirambo a taste of Ameri¬ 
can lead, that gentleman 
chose to avoid the place 
where such a reception had 
been prepared for him, and 
turned his attention to 
Mfuto. 

While he was anxiously 
gathering up a sufficient 
number of men to transport 
his necessary baggage to 
Ujiji, Stanley received a KALULU ’ STANLEY ’ S EAV0RITE SERVA * T - 

present. This was nothing less than a little boy slave, named Ndugu 
M’hali. The name did not suit his fancy, and he called the chiefs of his 
caravan together and asked them to choose a better one. Various names 
were suggested, but Ulimengo, after looking at his quick eyes, and 
noting his celerity of movement, pronounced the name “Ka-lu-lu” best 
for him, “Because,” said he, “just look at his eyes! So bright! Look 
at his form! So slim! Watch his movements! So quick!” 

“Yes, bana,” said the others, “let it be Kalulu.” 

Kalulu is a Kisawahili term for the young of the blue-buck an¬ 
telope. 





















STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


281 


“Well, then,” said Stanley, water being brought in a huge tin 
pan, Selim, who was willing to stand god-father, holding him over the 
water, “let his name henceforth be Kalulu, and let no man take it from 
him.” 


MIRAMBO's ATTACKS. 

The next day (Sept. 8) word was received that Mirambo had at¬ 
tacked Mfuto; the result of the engagement was not told until the 
next day; when the welcome news was received that Mirambo had 
been repulsed with severe loss. From this point forward, Mirambo 
had but little terror for the people at Ivwihara, and Stanley was able 
to carry on his work of getting ready for the journey to Ujiji, un¬ 
hindered by any circumstance except the sickness of Shaw and Selim. 

A farewell banquet was given on the 17th; two bullocks were bar¬ 
becued; three sheep, two goats, and fifteen chickens, one hundred and 
twenty pounds of rice, twenty large loaves made of Indian corn flour, 
one hundred eggs, ten pounds of butter, and five gallons of sweet milk 
were the contents of which the banquet was formed. 

The march was without other incidents for several days. It was 
Oct. 2 that they caught sight of a herd of giraffes, whose long necks 
were seen towering above a bush they had been nibbling at. This sight 
was greeted with a shout, for they knew that they had entered 
the game country, and that near the Gombe, where they intended to 
halt, they would find plenty of these animals. 

Three hours brought them to Manyara. Arriving before the vil¬ 
lage-gate, they were forbidden to enter, as the country was through¬ 
out in a state of war, and the villagers did not wish to be compromised. 
The travelers were directed to ruined huts outside the town, near a 
pool of clear water. After they had built their camp, the guide was 
sent to buy food; he was informed that the chief had forbidden his 
people to sell any grain whatever. Two royal cloths were selected, 
and sent by Bombay to propitiate the chief; but proved useless; and all 
the caravan went supperless to bed. 

The bale of choice cloths was opened again the next morning and 
four royal cloths were this time selected, and two dotis of Merikani, 


282 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


and Bombay was again dispatched, burdened with compliments and 
polite words. It was necessary to be very politic with a man who was 
so surly, and too powerful to make an enemy of. What if he made up 
his mind to imitate the redoubtable Mirambo, king of Uyoweh! The 
effect of Stanley’s munificent liberality was soon seen in the abundance 
of provender which came into the camp. Before an hour went by, 
there came boxes full of choroko, beans, rice, matama or dourra, and 
Indian corn, carried on the heads of a dozen villagers; and shortly 



THE PICHICIAGO. 


afterward the Mtemi himself came, followed by about thirty musketeers 
and twenty spearmen, to visit the first white man ever seen on this 
road. Behind these warriors came a liberal gift fully equal in value to 
that sent to him, of several large gourds of honey, fowls, goats, and 
enough vetches and beans to supply the caravan with four days’ food. 

STANLEY MEETS MIRAMBO. 

Stanley met the chief at the gate of his camp, and bowing pro¬ 
foundly, invited him to his tent, which he had arranged as well as hig 
circumstances would permit, for this reception. His Persian carpet 
and bear skin were spread out, and a broad piece of bran-new crimson 
cloth covered his kitanda, or bedstead. 














STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


283 


The chief, a tall, robust man, and his chieftains were invited to 
seat themselves. They cast a look of such gratified surprise at their 
host, his face, his clothes, and guns, as it is impossible to describe. They 
looked at him intently for a few seconds, and then at each other, which 
ended in an uncontrollable burst of laughter, and repeated snappings 
of the fingers. After a short period expended in exchanging compli¬ 
ments, the chief desired Stanley to show him his guns. The Win¬ 
chester rifle elicited a thousand flattering observations from the ex¬ 
cited man; and the tiny deadly revolvers, whose beauty and work¬ 
manship they thought superhuman, evoked such gratified eloquence 
that the American was glad to try something else. The double-barreled 
guns fired with heavy charges of powder caused them to jump up in 
affected alarm, and then to subside to their seats convulsed with 
laughter. As the enthusiasm of the guests increased, they seized each 
other’s index fingers, screwed them and pulled at them until the host 
feared they would end in their dislocation. After having explained to 
them the difference between white men and Arabs, Stanley pulled out 
his medicine chest, which evoked another burst of rapturous sighs at 
the cunning neatness of the array of vials. He asked what they meant. 1 

“ Dowa ,” replied Stanley, sententiously; a word which may be in¬ 
terpreted, medicine. 

“Oh-h, oh-li,” they murmured, admiringly. The white man suc¬ 
ceeded, ere long, in winning unqualified admiration; and his superiority, 
compared with the best of the Arabs they had seen, was but too evi¬ 
dent. “Dowa, dowa ,” they added. 

“Here,” said Stanley, uncorking a vial of medicinal brandy, “is 
the Kisungu pombe (white man’s beer); take a spoonful and try it,” 
at the same time handing it. 

“ Hacht, hacht, oh, hacht! What! Eh! What strong beer the white 
men have! Oh, how my throat burns!” 

“Ah, but it is good,” said Stanley; “a little of it makes men feel 
strong and good; but too much of it makes men bad, and they die.” 

“Let me have some,” said one of the chiefs; and the request was 
echoed until all had asked. 

The exhibitor next produced a bottle of concentrated ammonia, 


284 


STANLEY’S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE. 


which he explained was for snake-hites, and headaches; the sultan im¬ 
mediately complained he had a headache, and must have a little. Tell- 

X 

ing him to close his eyes, Stanley suddenly uncorked the bottle, and 
presented it to his majesty’s nose. The effect was magical, for he 
fell back as if shot, and such contortions as his features underwent 
are indescribable. His chiefs roared with laughter, and clapped their 
hands, pinched each other, snapped their fingers, and did many other 
ludicrous things. Finally the sultan recovered himself, great tears 
rolling down his cheeks, and his features quivering with laughter; 
then he suddenly uttered the word “Kali,” strong, quick, or ardent 
medicine. He required no more; but the other chiefs pushed forward 
to get one wee sniff, which they no sooner had than all went into par¬ 
oxysms of uncontrollable laughter. The entire morning was passed 
in this state visit, to the satisfaction of all concerned. 

“Oh,” said the sultan at parting, “these white men know every¬ 
thing! The Arabs are dirt compared to them.” 

October 4, they left their camp here, and traveled toward Gombe, 
which is four hours and a quarter from Manyara. Here, at last, was 
the hunter’s paradise. Hunters were now directed to proceed east 
and north to procure meat, because in each caravan it generally hap¬ 
pens that there are fundi, whose special trade is to hunt for meat for 
the camp. Some of these are experts in stalking, but often find them¬ 
selves in dangerous positions, owing to the near approach necessary 
before they can fire their most inaccurate weapons with any degree of 
certainty. 


CHAPTER XX. 

HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 

A Mutiny—Stanley’s Life Again Attempted—Attack of a Leopard—Lions near the Camp— 
“A White Man at Ujiji”—Silencing a Woman — Tanganyika — “Dr. Livingstone, I Pre¬ 
sume?”—Under the Palms of Ujiji—A Lion in the Grass—Parting from Livingstone— 
“Drop That Box, and I’ll Shoot You”—Going Home. 

We have not space here to detail Stanley’s prowess in hunting, 
since it brought nothing of special adventure; we must pass on to a 
more dangerous incident. 

The caravan remained two days at this camping-place, the hunters 
procuring plenty of meat, which the others cut and sliced so that it 
might be dried for future use; and even then the meat-loving, lazy 
Wangwana did not wish to go. They delegated Bombay early in the 
morning of the 7th to speak to Stanley, and entreat him to stop one 
day longer. Bombay was well scolded for bearing any such request 
after two days’ rest; and Bombay was by no means in the best of 
humors; flesh-pots full of meat were more to his taste than a constant 
tramping, and its consequent fatigues. Stanley saw his face settle 
into sulky ugliness, and his great nether lip hanging down limp, which 
means, as if expressed in so many words: 

“Well, get them to move yourself, you wicked, hard man! I shall 
not help you.” 

An ominous silence followed Stanley’s order to the kirangozi to 
sound the horn, and the usual singing and chanting were not heard. 
The men turned sullenly to their bales, and Asmani, the gigantic guide, 
was heard to say grumblingly that he was sorry he had engaged to guide 
the Musungu to the Tanganyika. However, they started, though re¬ 
luctantly. Stanley stayed behind with the gun-bearers, to drive the 
stragglers on. In about half an hour he sighted the caravan at a 
dead stop, with the bales thrown on the ground, and the men standing 
in groups talking angrily and excitedly. 

285 


286 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


Taking his double-barreled gun from Selim’s shoulder, be selected 
a dozen charges of buckshot, and slipping two of them into the bar¬ 
rels, and adjusting his revolvers in order for handy work, he walked 
on toward them. He noticed that the men seized their guns as he ad¬ 
vanced. When within thirty yards of the groups, he discovered the 
heads of two men appear above an ant-hill on his lift, with the barrels 
of their guns carelessly pointed toward the road. 

He halted, threw the barrel of his gun into the hollow of the left 
hand, and then, taking a deliberate aim at them, threatened to blow their 
heads off if they did not come forward to talk to him. These two men 
were gigantic Asmani, and his sworn companion Mabruki, the guides 
of Sheikh bin Nasib. As it was dangerous not to comply with such an 
order, they presently came; but keeping his eye on Asmani, Stanley 
saw him move his fingers to the trigger of his gun, and bring his gun 
to a “ready.” Again the white man lifted his gun, and threatened 
him with instant death, if he did not drop his musket. 

Asmani came on in a sidelong way, with a smirking smile on his 
face, but in his eyes shone the lurid light of murder as plainly as it 
ever shone in a villain’s eves. Mabruki sneaked to Stanlev’s rear, 

%i 

deliberately putting powder in the pan of his musket; but sweeping the 
gun sharply around, the Musungu planted the muzzle of it about two 
feet from his wicked-looking face, and ordered him to drop his gun 
instantly. He let it fall from his hand quickly; and, giving him a vigor¬ 
ous poke in the stomach with the double-barrel, which sent him reeling 
a few feet, Stan’ey turned to Asmani, and ordered him to put his gun 
down; accompanying the order with a nervous movement of his own 
weapon, pressing gently on the trigger at the same time. Never was 
a man nearer his death than was Asmani during those few moments. 
The white man was reluctant to shed his blood, and he was willing to 
try all possible means to avoid doing so; but if he did not succeed in 
cowing this ruffian, authority was at an end. The truth was, they 
feared to proceed farther on the road, and the only possiWe way of 
inducing them to move was by an overpowering force and exercise of 
his power and will in this instance, even though he might pay the pen¬ 
alty of his disobedience with death. As Stanley was beginning to feel 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


237 

that Asmani had passed his last moment on earth, as' he was lifting 
his gun to his shoulder, a form came up behind him, and Mabruki Speke 
cried in horror-struck accents: 

“Man, how dare you point your gun at the master?” 

Mabruki then threw himself at Stanley’s feet, and endeavored to 
kiss them, and entreated him not to punish him: 

“It is all over now,” lie said, “there will be no more quarreling; 
we will go to the Tanganyika, without any more noise; and Inshallah! 
we shall find the old Musungu at Ujiji! Speak, men, freedmen, shall 
we not? Shall we not go to the Tanganyika without any more trouble? 
Tell the master with one voice.” 

11 Ay Wallah! Ay Wallah! Bana yango! Hamuna manneno mgini!” 
which, being literally translated, means: 

“Yes, by God! Yes, by God! my master! There are no other 
words. ’ ’ 

“Ask the master’s pardon, man, or go thy way,” said Mabruki, 
peremptorily, to Asmani; which Asmani did, to the gratification of 
them all. It only remained for Stanley to extend a general pardon to 
all, except to Bombay and Ambari, the instigators of the mutiny, which 
was now happily quelled. For Bombay could by a word, as the cap¬ 
tain, have nipped all manifestation of bad temper at the outset, had lie 
been so disposed. But no, Bombay was more adverse to marching 
than the cowardliest of his fellows, not because he was cowardly, but 
because he loved indolence, and made a god of his belly. So, snatching 
up a spear, Stanley laid its staff vigorously on Bombay’s shoulders, 
and then sprang upon Ambari, whose mocking face soon underwent a 
remarkable transformation; and then clapped them both in chains, 
with a threat that they would be kept chained until they knew how to 
ask their master’s pardon. Asmani and Mabruki were told to be cau¬ 
tious not to exhibit their ugly tempers any more, lest they might taste 
the death they had so fortunately escaped. 

Again the word was given to march, and each man, with astonishing 
alacrity, seized his load, and filed off quickly out of sight; Bombay and 
Ambari in the rear in chains, with Kingaru and Asmani, the deserters, 
weighted with the heaviest loads. They had barely traveled an hour 


283 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 



from the Gombe before Bombay and Ambari m trembling accents im¬ 
plored their master’s pardon; he permitted then to continue for half 
an hour longer, when he finally relented, releasing them both from 
their chains, and restoring Bombay to his full honors as captain. 


THE WILD BOAR, 

They traveled fourteen days in a southwesterly direction and Stan¬ 
ley intended to have gone still further south; but rumors of war on the 
path before them induced him to change this plan. After consulting 
with Asmani, the guide, he decided to strike across toward the Tan¬ 
ganyika, on a west-by-north course through the forest, traveling, when 
it was advantageous, along elephant tracks and local paths. 

All were firm friends now; all squabbling had long ceased. Bombay 





HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


289 


and his master had forgotten their quarrel; the kirangozi and Stanley 
were ready to embrace. Confidence returned to all hearts; for now, 
as Mabruki Unyanyembe said: “They could smell the fish of the Tan¬ 
ganyika.” 

They were now in a country where the most dangerous animals 
were to be found; Stanley had already seen the first herd of elephants 
in their native wilds; and their camp on the Mtambu proved to be near 
the lairs of leopards and of lions. As some of the men were taking the 
two donkeys to water from this camp, a leopard sprang upon one of the 
animals, and fastened its claws in his throat. The frightened donkey 
began to bray so loudly, and was so warmly assisted by its companions, 
that the leopard bounded away through the brake, as if in sheer dis¬ 
may at the noisy cries which the attack had provoked. The donkey’s 
neck exhibited some frightful wounds, but the animal was not danger¬ 
ously hurt. 


MEETS A WILD BOAR. 

Stanley, thinking that possibly he might meet with an adventure 
with a lion or leopard in that dark belt of tall trees, took a stroll along 
that awesome place with the gun-bearer, Kalulu, carrying an extra sup¬ 
ply of ammunition and an additional gun. But after an hour’s search 
for adventure he had encountered nothing, and strolled further in 
search of something to shoot. Presently he saw a huge wild boar 
feeding quietly at some distance from him. He got two shots at this 
animal, but his bullets were not heavy enough to penetrate his thick 
hide and do any material damage, so that the boar escaped. As it was 
now getting late, and the camp was three miles away, they were obliged 
to return without the meat. On their way to camp they were accom¬ 
panied by a large animal which persistently followed them on their left. 
It was too dark to see plainly, but a large form was visible, if not very 
clearly defined. It must have been a lion. 

About eleven that night, they were startled by the roar of a lion very 
near the camp; soon it was joined by another and another, and the nov¬ 
elty of the thing kept the white man awake. He endeavored to sight a 
rifle; but the cartridges might as well have been filled with sawdust for 


290 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


all the benefit which he derived from them. Disgusted with the miser¬ 
able ammunition, he left the lions alone, and turned in, with their roar 
as a lullaby. 


A WHITE MAN. 

November 3, being then in Uvinza, they saw a caravan which came 
from the direction of Ujiji, consisting of about eighty Waguliha. They 
asked the news, and were told that a white man had just arrived at 
Ujiji from Manyuema. This news startled them all. 

“A white man?” Stanley asked. 

“Yes, a white man,” was the reply. 

“How is he dressed?” 

“Like the master,” they said, referring to Stanley. 

“ Is he young or old ? ’ ’ 

“He is old. He has white hair on his face, and he is sick.” 

“Where has he come from?” 

“From a very far country away beyond Uguhha, called Manyuema.” 

“Indeed! And is he stopping at Ujiji now?” 

“Yes, we saw him about eight days ago.” 

“Do you think he will stop there until we see him?” 

“ Sigue” (don’t know). 

“Was he ever at Ujiji before?” 

“Yes, he went away a long time ago.” 

It must be Livingstone. It can be no other; but still—he may be 
some one else—some one from the west coast—or perhaps he is Baker. 
No, Baker has no white hairs on his face. But they must now march 
quickly, lest he hears that they are coming, and runs away. Stanley 
addressed his men, and asked them if they were willing to march to 
Ujiji without a single halt: and then promised them, if they acceded to 
his wishes, two doti for each man. All answered in the affirmative, 
almost as much rejoiced as he was himself. But he was madly re¬ 
joiced, intensely eager to solve the burning question: “Is it Dr. Liv¬ 
ingstone?” He did wish there was a railroad, or at least horses in this 
country; with a horse he could reach Ujiji in about twelve hours. 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


291 


DELAYS AND DANGER. 

But the time necessary was much longer than this. They must 
pass through Uhha, and there they were subject to many delays. The 
messenger of the king demanded hongo , or tribute, to an enormous 
extent. After considerable haggling, this was paid; a few miles fur¬ 
ther on, the king himself demanded lionga, and denied all knowledge 
of his supposed agent. This, too, had to be paid. Yet farther, the king’s 
brother required honga , for he was almost as powerful as the king. 

Upon consultation with his chief men, Stanley decided that the only 
way to escape absolute penury as the result of a journey through Uhha, 



THE ALPINE MARMOT. 


was to keep away from the villages and roads, and, .trusting only to the 
compass, plunge boldly into the forests and make their way, by a hith¬ 
erto untrodden path, out of the country. Provisions sufficient to last six 
days were purchased, the guides were given an extra douceur, orders 
for the strictest silence throughout the march were issued, and the car¬ 
avan marched. 

They stole out of their camp near a village at 3 A. M.; and by 8 had 
reached the Busugi, where they camped in a clump of jungle near its 
banks. An hour after they had rested, some natives, carrying salt from 
the Malagarazi, were seen coming up the right bank of the river. When 
abreast of the hiding-place they detected the strangers, and dropping 
their salt-bags, they ran to give the alarm to the neighboring villages, 





292 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


four miles away. The men were immediately ordered to take up their 
loads, and in a few minutes they had crossed the Busugi, and were mak¬ 
ing direct for a bamboo jungle which appeared in their front. Almost 
as soon as they entered, a weak-brained woman raised a series of pierc¬ 
ing yells. The men were appalled at this noisy demonstration, which 
would call down upon their heads the vengeance of the Wahha for evad¬ 
ing the tribute to which they thought themselves entitled. In half an 
hour they would have hundreds of howling savages about them in the 
jungle, and probably a general massacre would ensue. The woman 
screamed fearfully, again and again, for no cause whatever. Some of 
the men with the instinct of self-preservation, at once dropped their 
bales and their loads, and vanished into the jungle. The guide came 
rushing back to Stanley, imploring him to stop her noise. The woman’s 
husband, livid with rage and fear, drew his sword, and asked his mas¬ 
ter’s permission to cut off her head at once. Had Stanley given the 
least signal, the woman had paid for her folly with her life. He at¬ 
tempted to hush her cries by putting his hand over her mouth, but she 
violently wrestled with him, and continued her cries worse than ever. 
There remained nothing else for him to do but to try the virtues of his 
whip over her shoulders. He asked her to desist after the first blow. 
No! She continued her insane cries with increased force and volume. 
Again his whip descended upon her shoulders. “No, no, no!” Another 
blow. “Will you hush?” “No, no, no!” Louder and faster she cried, 
and faster and faster he showered the blows for the taming of this 
shrew. However, seeing he was as determined to flog as she was to 
cry, she desisted before the tenth blow, and was silent. A cloth was 
folded over her mouth, and her arms were tied behind her; and in a few 
moments, the runaways having returned to their duties, the expedi¬ 
tion moved forward again with redoubled pace. 

Still keeping silence, they at last passed through Guhha, and were 
out of danger of extortion. They arrived at a point whence the Tan¬ 
ganyika could be seen, November 10. It was the fifty-first day after 
leaving Unyanyembe, and the two hundred and thirty-sixth after leav¬ 
ing Bagamoyo. They now pushed on rapidly, lest the news of their 
coming might reach the people of Bunder Ujiji before they came in 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


293 



with their eyes, as they peer into the palms and try to make out in which 
hut or house lives the white man with the gray heard they heard about 
on the Malagarazi. 

“Unfurl the flags, and load your guns!” 

.“Ay Wallah , Ay Wallah, bana!” respond the men eagerly. 

“One—two—three—fire!” 


sight and were ready for them. They halt at a little brook, then ascend 
the long slope of a naked ridge, the very last of the myriads they have 
crossed. They arrive at the summit, travel across and arrive at its 
western rim, and the port of Ujiji is below them, embowered in the 
palms, only five hundred yards from them. Their hearts and feelings are 


THE WATER DEEBLET, OR CHEVBOTAIN. 









294 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


A volley from nearly fifty guns roars like a salute from a battery of 
artillery; we shall note its effect presently on the peaceful-looking 
village below. 

“Now, kirangozi, hold the white man’s flag up high, and let the Zan¬ 
zibar flag bring up the rear. And you men keep close together and keep 
firing until we halt in the market-place, or before the white man’s house. 
You have said to me often that you could smell the fish of the Tangan¬ 
yika—I can smell the fish of the Tanganyika now. There are fish, and 
beer, and a long rest waiting for you. MARCH! ’ ’ 

FORWARD ! MARCH ! 

Before they had gone a hundred yards their repeated volleys had 
had the effect desired. They had awakened Ujiji to the knowledge 
that a caravan was coming, and the people were witnessed rushing 
up in hundreds to meet them. The mere sight of the flags informed 
every one at once that they were a caravan, but the American flag 
borne aloft by gigantic Asmani, whose face was one vast smile on this 
day, rather staggered them at first. However, many of the people who 
now approached them remembered the flag. They had seen it float over 
the American consulate and from the mast of many a ship in the har¬ 
bor of Zanzibar; and they were soon welcoming the beautiful flag with 
cries of Bindera Kisuggu!—a white man’s flag! Bindera Merikanii 
—the American flag!” 

Then the newcomers were surrounded by them; by Wajiji, Wany- 
amwezi, Wangwana, Warundi, Waguhha, Wamanyuema and Arabs, and 
were almost deafened with shouts of (i Yambo, yambo, bana! Yambo, 
bana! Yambo bana!” To all and each of Stanley’s men the welcome 
was given. 

They were now about three hundred yards from the village of Ujiji, 
and the crowds were dense about them. Suddenly Stanley heard a 
voice on his right say: 

‘ ‘ Good morning, sir. ’ ’ 

Startled at hearing this greeting in the midst of such a crowd of 
black people, he turns sharply around in search of the man, and sees 
him at his side, with the blackest of faces, but animated and joyous— 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE 


295 


a man dressed in a long white sliirt, with a turban of American sheet¬ 
ing around his woolly head; and he asks: 

“Who the mischief are you?” 

“I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone,” said he, smiling and 
showing a gleaming row of teeth. 

1 ‘ What! Is Dr. Livingstone here ? ’ ’ 

“Yes, sir.” 



ANT BEAB. 


“In this village?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Sure, sure, sir. Why, I leave him just now.” 
“Good morning, sir,” said another voice. 
“Hallo,” said Stanley. “Is this another one?” 
“Yes, sir.” 

“Well, what is your name?” 

























296 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


“My name is Chuma, sir.” 

“What, are you Chuma, the friend of Wekotami?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“And is the doctor well?” — 

“Not very well, sir.” 

“Where has he been so long?” 

“In Manyuema.” 

“Now you, Susi, run and tell the doctor I am coming.” 

“Yes, sir;” and off he darted like a madman. 

But by this time they were within two hundred yards of the village, 
and the multitude was getting denser, and almost preventing their 
march. Flags and streamers were out; Arabs and Wangwana were 
pushing their way through the natives in order to greet the new-com¬ 
ers ; for according to their account, the strangers belonged to them. But 
the great wonder of all was: 

“How did you come from Unyanyembe?” 

Soon Susi came running back, and asked Stanley his name; he had 
told the doctor that a white man was coming, but the doctor was too 
surprised to believe him; and when asked the white man’s name, Susi 
was rather staggered. But during Susi’s absence, the news had been 
conveyed to the doctor that it was surely a white man that was com¬ 
ing, whose guns were firing and whose flag could be seen; and the 
great Arab magnates of Ujiji had gathered together before the doc¬ 
tor’s house, and the doctor had come out from his veranda to discuss 
the matter and await his arrival. 

In the meantime, the head of the expedition had halted, and the 
kirangozi was out of the ranks, holding his flag aloft; and Selim said to 
his master: 


LIVINGSTONE EOUND. 

“I see the doctor, sir. Oh, what an old man! He has got a white 
beard.” 

And Stanley—what would he not have given for a bit of friendly 
wilderness, where he might vent his joy in some mad freak, such as 
idiotically biting his hand, turning a somersault, or slashing at trees, 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


297 


in order to allay those exciting feelings that were well nigh incontroll- 
able. His heart beat fast, but he must not let his face betray his emo¬ 
tions, lest it shall detract from the dignity of a white man appearing 
under such extraordinary circumstances. 

So he did that which he thought was most dignified. He pushed 
back the crowds, and passing from the rear, walked down a living ave¬ 
nue of people, until he came in front of the semi-circle of Arabs, in 
the front of which stood the white man with the gray beard. As he 
advanced slowly toward him, he noticed that the great explorer was 
pale, looked wearied, had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded 
gold band round it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of gray 
tweed trousers. Stanley would have run to him, only he says, “I was 
a coward in the presence of such a mob—would have embraced him, 
only, he being an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me; 
so I did what cowardice and false pride suggested was the best thing 
—walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said: 

“ ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?’ ” 

“Yes,” said he, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly. 

Stanley replaced his hat on his head, and Livingstone put on his 
cap; and they both grasped hands; and Stanley then said aloud: 

“I thank God, Doctor, that I have been permitted to see you.” 

“I feel thankful,” replied Livingstone, “that I am here to welcome 
you. ’ ’ 

Stanley turned to the Arabs, took off his hat to them in response 
to the saluting chorus of “Ta.m&os” he received, and the doctor in¬ 
troduced them to him by name. Then oblivious of the crowds, obliv¬ 
ious of the men who had shared dangers with him, Livingstone and Stan¬ 
ley turned their faces toward the elder man’s tembe. They are seated 
with their backs to the wall. The Arabs take seats on their left. More 
than a thousand natives are in front of them, filling the whole square 
densely, indulging their curiosity, and discussing the fact of two white 
men meeting at Ujiji—one just come from Manyuema, in the west, and 
one from Unyanyembe in the east. 

Conversation began; questions innumerable, yet of the simplest 
kind; then Livingstone began to tell the story of his travels, while Stan- 


298 


HOW STANLEY FOUND LIVINGSTONE. 


lev listened entranced. The Arabs rose with a delicacy of which the 
white men approved, as if they intuitively knew that they ought to be 
left to themselves. Stanley sent Bombay with them, to give them the 
news they also wanted so much to know about the affairs at Unyany- 
embe; they all had friends there, and it was hut natural that they 
should be anxious to hear of what concerned them. 

“No, doctor,” was the reply, “read your letters first, which I am 
sure you must be impatient to read.” 

“Ah,” said he, “I have waited years for letters, and I have been 
taught patience. I can surely afford to wait a few hours longer. No, 
tell me the general news: how is the world getting along?” 

“You probably know much already. Do you know that the Suez 
canal is a fact—is opened, and a regular trade carried on between 
Europe and India through it?” 

“I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that is grand news! 
What else?” 

Shortly, Stanley found himself acting the part of an annual periodi¬ 
cal to him. There was no need of any exaggeration—of any penny-a- 
line news, or of anv sensationalism. The world had witnessed and ex- 
perienced much during the past few years. The Pacific railroad had 
been completed; Grant had been elected President of the United States; 
Egypt had been flooded with savans; the Cretan Rebellion had been ter¬ 
minated ; a Spanish Revolution had driven Isabella from the throne of 
Spain, and a regent had been appointed; General Prim was assas¬ 
sinated; a Castelar had electrified Europe with his advanced ideas 
upon the liberty of worship; Prussia had humbled Denmark, and an¬ 
nexed Schleswig-Holstein, and her armies were now around Paris; the 
“Man of Destiny” was a prisoner at Wilhelmshohe; the Queen of 
Fashion and the Empress of the French was a fugitive; and the child 
born in the purple had lost forever the imperial crown intended for his 
head; the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished by the Prussians, Bis¬ 
marck and Von Moltke; and France, the proud empire, was humbled 
to the dust. What could a man have exaggerated of these facts? What 
a budget of news it was to one who had emerged from the depths of 
the primeval forests of Manyuema! 


CHAPTER XXI. 

STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH ACROSS THE 

DARK CONTINENT. 

Stanley Explores Same Ground as Roosevelt—Preparations for the Journey—Departure—In¬ 
terviewed by Lions—A Three Days’ Fight—Crocodiles and Hippopotami—Sickness and 

Death in the Camp—A Murderous Outbreak—A Fight and a Fine-Uganda and Its 

People—Panic in the Camp—The Terror of Africa—In Dwarf Land—Cataracts and Can¬ 
nibals—The Congo—Struggling On—Victoria and Albert Nyanza. 

W HEN Stanley set out to find the outlet of Lake Tanganyika 
and the sources of the Nile and to explore the then unknown 
western half of the African continent hardly anyone realized 
the wonderful resources of that rich and undeveloped country. 

His equipment included guns, ammunition, ropes, saddles, medical 
stores, provisions, gifts for native chiefs, scientific instruments, sta¬ 
tionery, etc., pontoons and boats. He was accompanied by three young 
stalwart English boatmen, two magnificent mastiffs, a retriever, a bull¬ 
dog and a bull-terrier. When they left Zanzibar (in November, 1874) 
the party were 356 in number, including 36 women and 10 boys, the 
line being nearly half a mile in length. Their first march through 
Ugogo was a progress in a country of starvation, for the improvident 
savage natives had no provisions and on one occasion they were re¬ 
duced to two cupfuls of oatmeal mush for each person. 

SICKNESS AND HUNGER. 

They were much troubled by sickness among the caravan; and 
Edward Pocock was dangerously ill. But the discontent of the people 
at the difficulty of obtaining food was such that Stanley judged it 
best to keep moving, if only two or three miles a day. Accordingly, 
those who were in the worst condition were carried in hammocks, and 
they proceeded by easy stages. They reached Chiwyu January 18, and 
had just begun to erect grass huts, when the sick European died from 

299 


300 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


typhus fever. Here they buried him at the foot of a hoary acacia 
with wide-spreading branches, and the lessened group of Europeans, 
with their army of black attendants, took up their journey westward 



HENRY M. STANLEY. 


the next day. This was by no means the first death in the expedition, 
although it was the first white man. Since leaving Bagamoyo, twenty 
had died, and no less than eighty-nine had deserted. 

Hitherto, in the case of all explorers, the story has rather been one 




STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


301 


of difficulties resulting from the nature of the country than from the 
hostility of the natives. Mungo Park alone, of the great African ex¬ 
plorers, met with his death at the hands of Africans. But the story 
of Stanley’s journey across the continent is, throughout, a story of bat¬ 
tle. He had learned forbearance, he tells us, from Livingstone, but this 
is a virtue which savage adversaries seldom appreciate, mistaking it 
for weakness and cowardice. 

While encamped at Vinyata, they received a visit from a greal 
magic doctor, who brought them the welcome present of a fine fat ox. 
Repaid about four-fold for it, he came again the next day, bringing 
some milk, and again received a present. 

WAR ABOUT A GLASS OF MILK AND AN ASS. 

Many were the difficulties they encountered often for very trivial 
reasons. One day some of his native helpers had stolen some milk 
from the savage tribe, through whose territory they were journeying, 
and this being considered a sufficient cause for war they suddenly found 
themselves surrounded by a howling mob of bloodthirsty warriors. A 
brisk encounter was sustained for an hour, and then, having driven 
the savages away they returned to camp. But the next day the hostile 
natives gathered again in their front larger than before in numbers 
and still fiercer for fight; the whole neighboring country seemed to 
have been aroused. Stanley and his men were in no mood for fighting. 
They were hungry, exhausted and wretched, and the danger of starva¬ 
tion or extinction seemed the only end in view. Time and again the 
savages attacked and were driven back but only to return in larger 
number. Stanley himself gives this graphic description of the perilous 
situation of his command: 

“Our position, as strangers in a hostile country, is such that we 
cannot exist as a corporate expedition, unless we resist with all our 
mi ght and skill, in order to terminate hostilities and secure access to 
the western country. We therefore wait until they advance upon our 
camp, and drive them back from its vicinity as we did the day before. 
In half an hour our people are back, and organized into four de¬ 
tachments of ten men each under their respective chiefs, two more de- 


302 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


tacliments of ten men each held in reserve, and one other, of ten also, de¬ 
tailed for the defense of the camp. They are instructed to proceed in 
skirmishing order in different directions through the hostile country, 
and to drive the inhabitants out wherever they find them lodged, to a 
distance of five miles east and north, certain rocky hills, the rendezvous 
of the foe, being pointed out as the place where they must converge. 
Messengers are sent with each detachment to bring back information. 

“The left detachment, was thrown into disorder, and were killed 
to a man, except the messenger who brought us the news, imploring 
for the reserve as the enemy were now concentrated on the second 
detachment. Manwa S$ra was dispatched with fifteen men, and ar¬ 
rived at the scene only in time to save eight out of the second detach¬ 
ment. The third plunged boldly on, but lost six of its number; the 
fourth behaved prudently and well, and as fast as each inclosed village 
was taken set it on fire. But ten other men dispatched to the scene 
retrieved what the third had lost, and strengthened Safeni. 

“Our losses in this day’s proceedings were twenty-one soldiers and 
one messenger killed, and three wounded. 

“On the morning of the 25th we waited until 9 A. M., again hoping 
that the Wanyaturu would see the impolicy of renewing the fight; but 
we were disappointed, for they appeared again, and apparently as 
numerous as ever. After some severe volleys we drove them off again 
on the third day, but upon the return of the Wangwana, instead of 
dividing them into detachments, I instructed them to proceed in a 
compact body. Some of the porters volunteered to take the place of 
the soldiers who perished the previous day, and we were therefore 
able to show still a formidable front. All the villages in our neighbor¬ 
hood being first consumed, they continued their march, and finally at¬ 
tacked the rocky hill, which the Wanyaturu had adopted as a strong¬ 
hold, and drove them flying precipitately into the neighboring country, 
where they did not follow them. 

“We knew now that we should not be disturbed. * * * Our losses 
in Ituru were twenty-four killed and four wounded, and as we had 
twenty-five men on the sick-list, it may be imagined that to replace 
these fifty-three men great sacrifices were necessary, and much in- 


FIGHT AND BURNING OF VILLAGES 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


303 



























304 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


genuity had to be exercised. Twelve loads were accordingly placed 
on the asses, and ten chiefs were detailed to carry baggage until we 
should arrive in Usukuma. Much miscellaneous property was burned, 
and on the morning of the 26th, just before day-break, we resumed our 
interrupted journey.” 

Usiha proved much more hospitable, and they were not only kindly 
welcomed, but were able to procure the food which they needed so 
badly. Here, however, they were once in danger from the braying of an 
ass. 

“When in sight of their conical cotes, we dispatched one of our 
native guides to warn the natives that a caravan of Wangwana was 
approaching, and to bear messages of peace and good will. But in 
his absence, one of the Kinyamwezi asses set up a terrific braying, 
which nearly created serious trouble. It appears that on one of his 
former raids the terrible Mirambo possessed a Kinyamwezi ass which 
also brayed, and like the geese of the Roman Capitol, betrayed the 
foe. Hence the natives insisted, despite the energetic denial of our 
guide, that this ass must also belong to Mirambo, and for a short period 
he was in a perilous state. They seized and bound him, and would 
probably have dispatched him had not the village scouts returned laugh¬ 
ing heartily at the fright the vicious ass had caused.” 

VICTORIA NYANZA. 

Two days after these thrilling incidents they reached the shores of 
Victoria Nyanza. Before them lay a vast sheet of water, which a daz¬ 
zling sun transformed into silver and which stretched away across to a 
boundary of dark blue hills and mountains. 

Crowds of savages soon surrounded them from all sides. They 
informed him that the lake was so large that it would take eight years 
to trace its shores, and that there were a people dwelling on its 
shores who were gifted with tails, another a tribe of cannibals, who 
preferred human flesh to all kinds of meat. It was almost impossiRe 
to get the superstitious natives to follow him out on the lake. Only 
used to paddling they were afraid of the sails and fled when they were 
hoisted. Finally he selected two men and with this crew set sail upon 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


305 


the big waters. We cannot relate all the adventures he met on this 
historic circumnavigation. Reaching the northeastern part of the lake 
they met a large canoe, propelled by forty paddlers, who when they 
came within fifty yards seizing their long tufted lances and shields 
began to sway them menacingly. 



FISHING AT STANLEY FALLS, 


“They edged toward us a little nearer,” says Stanley, “and ended 
by ranging their long canoe alongside of our boat. Our tame, mild 
manners were in striking contrast to their bullying, overbearing and 
insolent demeanor. The paddlers, half of whom were intoxicated, laid 
their hands with familiar freedom upon everything. We still smiled, 
and were as mild and placable as though anger and resentment could 

















30G 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH . 


never enter our hearts. We were so courteous, indeed, that we per¬ 
mitted them to handle our persons with a degree of freedom which 
appeared to them unaccountable—unless we were so timid that we 
feared to give offense. If we had been so many sheep, we could not 
have borne a milder or more innocent aspect. Our bold friends, reeling 
and jostling one another in their eagerness to offend, seized their spears 
and shields, and began to chant in bacchanalian tones a song that 
was tipsily discordant. Some seized their slings and flung stones to 
a great distance, which we applauded. Then one of them, under the 
influence of wine, and spirits elated by the chant, waxed bolder, and 
looked as though he would aim at myself, seated observant but mute in 
the stern of my boat. I made a motion with my hand as though dep¬ 
recating such an action. , The sooty villain seemed to become at once 
animated by an hysteric passion, and whirled his stone over my head, 
a. loud drunken cheer applauding his boldness. 

“Perceiving that they were becoming wanton through our appar¬ 
ently mild demeanor, I seized my revolver and fired rapidly into the 
water, in the direction the stone had been flung, and the effect was pain¬ 
fully ludicrous. The bold, insolent bacchanals had at the first shot 
sprung overboard, and w.ere swimming for dear life to Ngevi, leaving 
their canoe in our hands. ‘Friends, come back, come back; why this 
fear?’ cried out our interpreter; ‘we simply wished to show you that 
we had weapons as well as yourselves. Come, fake your canoe; see, we 
push it away for you to seize it.’ We eventually won them back with 
smiles. We spoke to them as sweetly as before. The natives were more 
respectful in their demeanor. They laughed, cried out admiringly; 
imitated the pistol shot; ‘Boom, boom, boom,’ they shouted. They 
then presented me with a bunch of bananas. We became enthusiastic 
admirers of each other.” 

After having met many warlike tribes and successfully escaped 
their traps they finally arrived at Usavara, the hunting village of Ka- 
baka, where 

STANLEY MET THE MIGHTIEST MAN OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA. 

But he himself must tell of his reception: 

“When about two miles from Usavara, we saw what we -estimated 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


307 


to be thousands of people arranging themselves in order on gently 
rising ground. When about a mile from the shore, Magassa gave the 
order to signal our advance with fire-arms, and was at once obeyed by 
his dozen musketeers. Half a mile off I saw that the people on the 
shore had formed themselves into two dense lines, at the ends of which 



A CONCEBT. 


stood several finely dressed men, arrayed in crimson and black and 
snowy white. As we neared the beach, volleys of musketry burst out 
from the long lines. Magassa’s canoes steered outward to right and 
left, while two or three hundred heavily loaded guns announced to 
all around that the white man, of whom Mtesa’s mother had dreamed, 
had landed. Numerous kettles and bass drums sounded^ a noisy wel¬ 
come, and flags, banners and bannerets waved, and the people gave a 
great shout. Very much amazed at all this ceremonious and pompous 
greeting, I strode up toward the great standard, near which stood a 
short young man, dressed in a crimson robe which covered an im- 

















m 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


maculately white dress of bleached cotton, before whom Magassa, who 
had hurried ashore, kneeled reverently, and turning to me begged me 
to understand that this short young man was the Katekiro. Not know* 
ing very well who the Katekiro was, I only bowed, which, strange to 
say, was imitated by him, only that his bow was far more profound and 
stately than mine. I was perplexed, confused, embarrassed, and I 
believed I blushed inwardly at all this regal reception, though I hope 
I did not betray my embarrassment. 

“A dozen well-dressed people now came forward, and grasping my 
hand declared in the Swahili language that I was welcome to Uganda. 
The Katekiro motioned with his head, and amid a perfect concourse 
of beaten drums, which drowned all conversation, we walked side by 
side, and followed by curious thousands, to a court-yard, and a circle 
of grass-thatched huts surrounding a larger house, which I was told 
were my quarters. 

‘ ‘ The Katekiro and several of the chiefs accompanied me to my new 
hut, and a very sociable conversation took place. There was present 
a native of Zanzibar, named Tori, whom I shortly discovered to be 
chief drummer, engineer, and general jack-of-all-trades for the Kabaka. 
From this clever, ingenious man I obtained the information that the 
Katekiro was the prime minister, or the Kabaka’s deputy. * * * Wa- 
ganda, as I found subsequently, were not in the habit of remaining in¬ 
curious before a stranger. Hosts of questions were fired off at me 
about my health, my journey and its aim, Zanzibar, Europe and its 
people, the seas and the heavens, sun, moon, and stars, angels and 
devils, doctors, priests, and craftsmen in general; in fact, as the rep¬ 
resentative of nations who ‘know everything,’ I was subjected to a 
most searching examination, and in one hour and ten minutes it was 
declared unanimously that I had ‘passed.’ Forthwith after the ac¬ 
clamation, the stately bearing became merged into a more friendly one, 
and long, thin, nervous black hands were pushed into mine enthusias¬ 
tically, from which I gathered that they applauded me as if I had won 
the honors of a senior wrangler. Some proceeded direct to the Kabaka 
and informed him that the white man was a genius, knew everything, 
and was remarkably polite and sociable; and the' Kabaka was said to 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 309 

have 1 rubbed his hands as though he had just come into possession 
of a treasure.’ ” 

After this searching examination was concluded, and reported to 
Mtesa, that chief dispatched refreshments for his guest. “These few 
things,” as they were styled in the message accompanying them, were 
fourteen fat oxen, sixteen goats and sheep, a hundred bunches of 



BOYAL HOSPITALITIES. 


bananas, three dozen fowls, four wooden jars of milk, four baskets of 
sweet potatoes, fifty ears of green Indian corn, a basket of rice, twenty 
fresh eggs, and ten pots or maramba wine. When the traveler had 
eaten and was satisfied, the Kabaka would send for him. 

Promptly at the appointed hour, two pages came to summon the 
traveler to the presence of the foremost man of Central Africa. 

“Forthwith we issued from our courtyard, five of the boat’i crew 











310 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


on each side of me armed with Snider rifles. We reach a short broad 
street, at the end of which is a hut. Here the Kabaka is seated with 
a number of chiefs, Wakungu [generals] and Watongeleh [colonels] 
ranked from the throne in two opposing kneeling or seated lines, the ends 
being closed in by drummers, guards, executioners, pages, etc., etc. As 
we approached the nearest group, it opened, and the drummers beat 
mighty sounds, Tori’s drumming being conspicuous from its sharper 
beat. The foremost man of Equatorial Africa rises and advances, 
and all the kneeling and seated lines rise—generals, colonels, chiefs, 
cooks, butlers, pages, executioners, etc., etc. 

“The Kabaka, a tall, clean-faced, large-eyed, nervous-looking, thin 
man, clad in a tarbush, black robe, with a white shirt belted with gold, 
shook my hands warmly and impressively, and bowing not ungrace- 
fullv, invited me to be seated on an iron stool. I waited for him to show 
the example, and then I and all the others seated ourselves. 

“He first took a deliberate survey of me, which I returned with 
interest, for he was as interesting to me as I was to him. His im¬ 
pression of me was that I was younger than Speke, not so tall, but better 
dressed. This I gathered from his criticisms as confided to his chiefs 
and favorites. 

“My impression of him was that he and I would become better 
acquainted, that I should make a convert of him, and make him use¬ 
ful to Africa.” 

It will be remembered that Speke’s description of this potentate 
was not a very favorable one—vain and heartless, a wholesale tyrant 
and murderer, delighting in fat women. It had been his custom, in 
receiving a visitor with honors, to have his executioners strike off the 
heads of several slaves or subjects on the spot. Stanley found him 
intelligent, and well worthy the heartiest sympathies that Europe had 
to give him. What was the reason for this change? Stanley answers 
in his journal, in the entry written at this very time: 

“I see that Mtesa is a powerful emperor, with great influence over 
his neighbors. * * # I have witnessed with astonishment such 
order and law as is obtainable in semi-civilized countries. All this is 
the result of a poor Muslim’s labor; his name is Muley bin Salim. He 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


311 



Two days after his arrival at Usavara, Mtesa distinguished “Stam- 
lee” by holding what he termed a review of his fleet, forty canoes, 
holding some twelve hundred men. “The captain of each canoe was 
dressed in a white cotton shirt and a cloth head-cover, neatly folded 
turban fashion, while the admiral wore over his shirt a crimson jacket 
profusely decorated with gold braid, and on his head the red fez of 
Zanzibar. Each captain, as he passed us, seized shield and spear, and 
with the bravado of a matador addressing the Judge of the Plaza to 
behold his prowess, went through the performance of defense and 


it was who first began teaching here the doctrines of Islam. False and 
contemptible as these doctrines are, they are preferable to the ruthless 
instincts of a savage despot, whom Speke and Grant left wallowing in 
the blood of women, and I honor the memory of Muley bin Salim 
—Muslim and slave trader though he be—the poor priest who had 
wrought this happy change. With a strong desire to improve still more 
the character of Mtesa, I shall begin building on the foundation stones 
laid by Muley bin Salim. I shall destroy his belief in Islam, and teach 
the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth.” 


WOMEN AT MTESA’S COURT. 




312 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 



WOMEN BREAKING CORN. 


attack by water. The admiral won the greatest applause, for he was 
the Hector of the fleet, and his actions, though not remarkably grace¬ 
ful, were certainly remarkably extravagant. The naval review over, 
Mtesa commanded one of the captains of the canoes to try and dis- 
covei a crocodile or hippopotamus. After fifteen minutes he returned 
with the report that there was a young crocodile asleep on a rock about 
two hundred yards away. 

“ ‘Now, Stamlee,’ said Mtesa, ‘show my women how white men can 
shoot.’ 

“[For the great chief was attended by a considerable number of 
the women composing his harem.] To represent all the sons of Japhet 
on this occasion was a great responsibility, but I am happy to say 


/ 





































STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


313 


« 

that—whether owing to the gracious influence of some unseen divinity 
who has the guardianship of their interests or whether from mere 
luck—I nearly severed the head of the young crocodile from its body 
at the distance of one hundred yards with a three-ounce ball, an act 
which was accepted as proof that all white men are dead shots.” 

Three days later, the court broke up its hunting lodge and returned 
to the capital, Stanley following at a later hour, since it was necessary 
to house his boat from the sun. The road was eight feet wide, through 
jungle and garden and forest and field. We need not linger over the 
description of the beautiful scenery enjoyed during the three hours’ 
march before they came in sight of a large cluster of tall, conical grass 
huts, in the center of which rose a spacious, lofty barn-like struc¬ 
ture. The large building, they were told, was the palace, the hill, 
Rubaga, and the cluster of huts, the imperial capital! 

The envoy of the two great newspapers had, as we have already 
heard from his own lips, determined to make an effort to convert Mtesa 
to Christianity. It was his first missionary work; for up to the period 
of his first journey into the interior of Africa at least, he had “cared 
for none of these things.” The four months’ intercourse with Living¬ 
stone, however, close and constant as it was, had wrought a change; 
it was owing to no set effort of the elder man; but the influence of 
his life and character taught Stanley the worth of the religion which 
he professed. On the evening of the day that the traveler had his 
first interview with Mtesa, he wrote in his diary: 

“In this man I see the possible fruition of Livingstone’s hopes, 
for with his aid the civilization of Equatorial Africa becomes feasible. 
I remember the ardor and love which animated Livingstone when he 
spoke of Sekeletu; had he seen Mtesa, his ardor and love for him had 
been tenfold, and his pen and tongue would have been employed in call¬ 
ing all good men to assist him.” 

At every interview between them, the white man had made some 
effort to turn the conversation to the subject of religion; and not in 
vain. Mtesa and his principal chiefs soon became so absorbingly in¬ 
terested in the story of the Gospel as Stanley gave it to them that 
little of other business was done. Of course only the bare outlines 


314 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


were touched upon—those essential points which are accepted by all, 
and which are as intelligible to the savage and the child as to doctor of 
divinity. 

“I showed the difference in character between Him whom white 
men love and adore, and Mohammed, whom the Arabs revere; how 
Jesus endeavored to teach all mankind that we should love all men, 
excepting none; while Mohammed taught his followers that the slay- 



XHE IMPERIAL CAPITAL. 


ing of the pagan and unbeliever was an act that merited Paradise. I 
left it to Mtesa and his chiefs to decide which was the worthier char¬ 
acter. I also sketched in brief the history of religious belief from 
Adam to Mohammed. I had also begun to translate to him the Ten 
Commandments, and Idi, the emperor’s writer, inscribed in Kiganda 
the words of the Law as given to him in choice Swahili by Robert 











































STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 315 

Fer.uzi, one of my boat’s crew, and a pupil of the Universities’ Mission 
at Zanzibar. ’ ’ 

But Stanley must be looking after the men whom he had left at 
Kagehyi, leaving the completion of his missionary work for the pres¬ 
ent. Mtesa gave him permission to depart, and ordered Magassa to 
have ready thirty canoes to serve as escort. 

STANLEY LEAVES GREAT MONARCH. FIERCE ENCOUNTER WITH SAVAGES. 

Escorted by Magassa he returned along the western coast of the 
lake, all the time meeting with thrilling adventures. 

“As soon as we had sailed a little distance along the coast,” he 
says, “we caught sight of a few figures which broke the even and 
smooth outline of the grassy summit, and heard the well-known melo¬ 
dious war-cries employed by most of the Central African tribes: l Hehu-a 
helm u-u-u!’ loud, long-drawn, and ringing. 

“The figures increased in number, and fresh voices joined in the 
defiant and alarming note. Still, hungry wretches as we were, en¬ 
vironed by difficulties of all kinds, just beginning to feel warm after 
the cold and wet of the night before, with famine gnawing at our vitals, 
leagues upon leagues of sea between us and our friends at Usukuma, 
and nothing eatable in our boat, we were obliged to risk something 
reminding ourselves that ‘there are no circumstances so desperate 
which Providence may not relieve.’ 

“At 9 A. M. we discovered a cove near the southeast end of the 
long island, and pulled slowly into it. Immediately the natives rushed 
down the slopes, shouting war-cries and uttering fierce ejaculations. 

“The natives consulted a little while, and several—now smiling 
pleasantly themselves, advanced leisurely into the water until they 
touched the boat’s prow. They stood a few seconds talking sweetly, 
when suddenly with a rush they ran the boat ashore, and then all the 
others, seizing hawser and gunwale, dragged her about twenty yards 
over the rocky beach high and dry, leaving us almost stupefied with 
astonishment! 

“Then ensued a scene which beggars description. Pandemonium— 
all its devils armed, raged around us. A forest of spears were levelled; 
thirty or forty bows were drawn taut; as many barbed arrows seemed 


316 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH, 


already on the wing; thick, knotty clubs waved above our heads; two 
hundred screaming black demons jostled with each other, and struggled 
for room to vent their fury, or for an opportunity to deliver one crush¬ 
ing blow or thrust at us. 

“In the meantime, as soon as the first symptoms of this manifesta¬ 
tion of violence had been observed, I had sprung to my feet, each 
hand armed with a loaded self-cocking revolver, to kill and be killed. 



KING MUNZA’S HOUSE. 


But the apparent hopelessness of inflicting much injury upon such a 
large crowd restrained me, and Safeni turned to me, almost cowed to 
dumbness by the loud fury around us, and pleaded with me to be pa¬ 
tient. I complied, seeing that I should get no aid from my crew; but. 
while bitterly blaming myself for having yielded—against my instincts 
—to placing myself in the power of such savages, I vowed that if I 
escaped this once, my own judgment should guide my actions for 
the future. 

“I assumed a resigned air, though I still retained my revolvers. 
My crew also bore the first outburst of the tempest of shrieking rage 











































STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


317 


which assailed them with almost sublime imperturbability. Safeni 
crossed his arms with the meekness of a saint. Baraka held his hands 
palms outward, asking with serene benignity: 

“ ‘Wliat, my friends, ails you! Do you fear empty hands and 
smiling people like us? We are friends, we come as friends to buy 
food, two or three bananas, a few mouthfuls of grain or potatoes, or 
muhogo (cassava), and, if you will permit it, we will depart as friends.’ 

“Our demeanor had a great effect. The riot and noise seemed to 
be subsiding, when some fifty newcomers rekindled the smouldering 
fury. Again the forest of spears swayed on the launch, again the 
knotty clubs were whirled aloft, again the bows were drawn, and again 
the barbed arrows seemed flying. Safeni received a push which sent 
him tumbling, little Kirango received a blow on the head with a spear- 
staff, Saramba gave a cry as a club descended on his back. 

“I sprang up this time to remonstrate, with the two revolvers in 
my left hand. I addressed myself to an elder, who seemed to be re¬ 
straining the people from proceeding too far. I showed him beads, 
cloth, wire, and invoked the names of Mtesa, and Antari their king. 

“The sight of the heaps of beads and cloth I exposed awakened, 
however, the more deliberate passions of selfishness and greed in each 
heart. An attempt at massacre, they began to argue, would certainly 
entail the loss of some of themselves. ‘Guns might be seized and han¬ 
dled with terrible effect even by dying men, and who knows what those 
little iron things in the white man’s hands are?’ they seemed to be 
asking themselves. The elder, whatever he thought, responded with an 
affectation of indignation, raised his stick, and to right and left of 
him drove back the demoniac crew. Other prominent men now as¬ 
sisted this elder, whom we subsequently discovered to be Shekka, the 
king of Bumbireh. 

“Shekka, then, having thus bestirred himself, beckoned to half a 
dozen men and walked away a few yards behind the mass. It was 
the ‘shauri,’ dear to a free and independent African’s heart, that was 
about to be held. Half the crowd followed the king and his council, 
while the other half remained to indulge their violent, vituperative, 
tongues on us, and to continually menace us with either club or spear. 


318 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


An audacious party came round the stern of the boat and, with super¬ 
latively hideous gestures, affronted me; one of them even gave a tug 
at my hair; thinking it was a wig. I revenged myself by seizing his 
hand, and suddenly bending it back, almost dislocated it, causing 
him to howl with pain. His comrades swayed their lances, but I smil¬ 
ingly looked at them, for all idea of self-preservation had now almost 
fled. 

“The issue had surely arrived. There had been just one brief 
moment of agony when I reflected how unlovely death appears in 
such guise as that in which it then threatened me. What would my 
people think as they anxiously awaited the never-returning master? 
What would Pocock and Barker say when they heard of the tragedy 
of Bumbireh? And my friends in America and Europe! Tut, it is 
only a brief moment of pain, and then what can the ferocious dogs 
do more? It is a consolation that if anything it will be short, sharp, 
sudden—a gasp, and then a silence—forever and forever! And after 
that, I was ready for the fight and for death. 

DO YOUR WORST. 

“ ‘Now, my black friends, do your worst; anytning you choose; 
I am ready.’ 

“A messenger from the king and council arrives, and beckons Sa- 
feni. I said to him: ‘ Safeni, use your wit. ’ 

“ ‘Please God, master,’ he replied.” 

The African, like all savages, is possessed by a curiosity easily 
aroused, and the natives followed Safeni, observing his every motion 
as he endeavored to make himself understood. As Mr. Stanley ob¬ 
serves, Safeni proved himself “a born diplomat.” He used all the 
arts of the pantomime. His face was sweet and smiling; his hands 
made most eloquent gestures; he exhibited all the graces and elo¬ 
quence of the advocate, pleading before the jury for a client in danger 
for his life. In a short time he came back to his party radiant with 
hope, declaring it was all right, that they were safe; but that the 
savages insisted they should stay with them until they should hold 
their shauri, when they would sell food to the starving party. But 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


319 


even as be was relating this, several men came forward and suddenly 
grabbed all the oars. Safeni was about to resist, but Stanley called 
out: 

“ ‘Let them go, Safeni!’ 

“A loud cheer greeted the seizure of the oars. I became convinced 
now that this one little act would lead to others; for man is the same 



AFRICAN VILLAGE. 


all over the world. Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride to the 
devil; give a slave an inch, and he will take an ell; if a man submit 
once, he must be prepared to submit again.” 

It was truly a desperate case, yet Stanley and his men could do 
nothing. The shauri proceeded; a messenger came demanding gifts; 
they were handed over without a word of protest. Noon came; and 
the savages, sure of their prey, withdrew to their villages for food and 





















320 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


drink; for, as the poet asks, “Where is the man who can live without 
dining!” The half-starved men in the boat were visited by the women, 
who consoled them with the assurance of being killed very soon; if, 
however, they could induce Shekka to make blood-brotherhood or eat 
honey with one of them, peace would ensue and they would be safe. 

“About 3 P. M. we heard a number of drums beaten. Safeni was 
told that if the natives collected again he must endeavor to induce 
Shekka with gifts to go through the process of blood-brotherhood. 

“A long line of natives in full war costume appeared on the crest 
of the terrace, on which the banana grove and the village of Kajurri 
stood. Their faces were smeared with black and white pigments. 
Almost all of them bore the peculiar shields of Usongora. Their ac¬ 
tions were such as the dullest-witted of us recognized as indicating hos¬ 
tilities. Even Safeni and Baraka were astounded, and their first words 
were: 

“ ‘Prepare, master. Truly, this is trouble.’ 

“ ‘Never mind me,’ I replied; ‘I have been ready these three hours. 
Are you ready, your guns and revolvers loaded, and your ears open 
this time!’ 

“ ‘We are,’ they all firmly answered. 

“ ‘Don’t be afraid; be quite cool. We will try, while they are col¬ 
lecting together, the women’s suggestion. Go frankly and smiling, 
Safeni, up to Shekka, on the top of that hill, and offer him these three 
fundo of beads, and ask him to exchange blood with you.’ 

“Safeni proceeded readily on his errand, for there was no danger 
to him bodily while we were within a hundred and fifty yards, and 
their full number as yet unprepared. For ten minutes he conversed 
with them, while the drums kept beating, and numbers of men painted 
for war were increasing Shekka’s force. Some of them entertained us 
by demonstrating with their spears how they fought; others whirled 
their clubs like tipsy Irishmen at Donnybrook fair. Their gestures 
were wild, their voices were shrill and fierce, they were kindling them¬ 
selves into a fighting fever. 

“Safeni returned. Shekka had refused the pledge of peace. The na¬ 
tives now mustered over three hundred. Presently fifty bold fellows 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH , 


321 



EXECUTION OF A MUTINEER IN STANLEY’S CAMP. 















322 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


came rushing down, uttering a shrill cry. Without hesitation they came 
straight to the boat, and hissing something to us, seized our kiganda 
drum. It was such a small affair, we did not resist; still the manner 
in which it was taken completely undeceived us, if any small hope of 
peace remained. Loud applause greeted the act of gallantry. 

“Then two men came down toward us, and began to drive some 
cows away that were grazing between us and the men on the hill. Sa- 
feni asked of one of them: 

“ ‘Why do you do that?’ 

“ ‘Because we are going to begin fighting presently, and if you are 
men, you may begin to prepare yourselves,’ he said, scornfully. 

“ ‘Thanks, my bold friend,’ I muttered to myself; ‘those are the 
truest words we have heard today. ’ 

“The two men were retiring up the hill. 

“ ‘Here, Safeni,’ I said, ‘take these two fine red cloths in your 
hand; walk slowly up after them a little way, and the minute you 
hear my voice run back; and you, my boys, this is for life and death, 
mind; range yourselves on each side of the boat, lay your hands on it 
carelessly, but with a firm grip; and when I give the word, push it 
with the force of a hundred men down the hill into the water. Are you 
all ready, and do you think you can do it? Otherwise we might as well 
begin fighting where we are.’ 

“ ‘Yes, Insliallah, master,’ they cried out with one voice. 

“ ‘G-o, Safeni!’ 

“I waited until he had walked fifty yards away, and saw that he 
acted precisely as I had instructed him. 

“ ‘Push, my boys! Push for your lives!’ 

“The crew bent their heads and strained their arms. The boat be¬ 
gan to move, and there was a hissing, grinding noise below me. I 
seized my double-barreled elephant rifle and shouted: ‘ Safeni! Safeni! 
Return! ’ 

“The natives were quick-eyed. They saw the boat moving and 
with one accord they swept down the hill uttering the most fearful 
cries. My boat was at the water’s edge. 

“ ‘Shoot her into the lake, my men; never mind the water!’ 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH . 


323 


“And clear of all obstructions she darted out upon the lake. Safeni 
stood for an instant on the water’s edge, with the cloths in his hand. 
The foremost of a crowd of natives was about twenty yards from 
him. He raised his spear and balanced himself. 

“ ‘Spring into the water, man, head first!’ I cried. 

“The balanced spear was about to fly, and another man was prepar¬ 
ing his weapon for a deadly cast, when I raised my gun and the bullet 
ploughed through him and through the second. The bowmen halted 
and drew their bows. I sent two charges of duck-shot into their midst 



HUNTING HIPPOPOTAMI. 


with terrible effect. The natives retreated from the beach on which 
the boat had lately lain. 

“Having checked the natives, I assisted one of my men into the 
boat, and ordered him to lend a hand to the others, while I reloaded 
my big guns, keeping my eyes on the natives. There was a point about 
a hundred yards in length on the east, which sheltered the cove. Some 
of the natives made a rush for this, but my guns commanded the 
exposed position, and they were obliged to retire. 

“The crew seized their rifles, but I told them to leave them alone, 
and to tear the bottom-board out of the boat and use them as paddles; 
for there were two hippopotami advancing on us open-mouthed, and 
























324 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


it seemed as if we were to be crushed in the water after such a narrow 
escape from the ferocious people ashore. I permitted one of the hippos 
to approach within ten yards, and, aiming between his eyes, perforated 
his skull with a three-ounce ball, and the second received such a wound 
that we were not molested by him. 

“Meanwhile, the savages, baffled and furious at seeing their prey 
escape, had rushed, after a short consultation, to man two canoes that 
were drawn up on the beach at the northwest corner of the cove. 
Twice I dropped men as they were endeavoring to launch the boats; 
but they persisted, and finally launching them, pursued us vigorously. 
Two other canoes were seen coming down the coast from the eastern 
side of the island. Unable to escape, we stopped after he had got out 
of the cove and waited for them. 

“My elephant rifle was loaded with explosive balls for this oc¬ 
casion. Four shots killed five men and sank two of the canoes. The two 
others retired to assist their friends out of the water. They attempted 
nothing further, but some of those on shore had managed to reach the 
point, and as we resumed our paddles, we heard a voice cry out: 

“ ‘Go and die in the Nyanza!’ 

“And saw them shoot their arrows, which fell harmlesslv a few 
yards behind us. We were saved!’’ 

THE VOYAGE COXTIXUED. 

It was five o’clock in the evening; they had had no food all day, and 
had only four bananas in the boat for twelve hungry men. The weak 
boards which they had for paddles did not answer the purpose very 
well, and in the dead calm which succeeded a gentle breeze, they were 
able to make only three-quarters of a mile an hour. A gale came up, 
and too weak to paddle any more they gave themselves up to the fury 
of the winds. It sank at last, and ordering that one of the thwarts 
should be chopped up, Stanley made coffee with which to refresh his 
half-starved companions. 

They had had but little food before leaving Alice Island, on April 
27; and this coffee, with the four bananas, was all that passed their 
lips until the afternoon of the 30th. They landed, then, on an unin- 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


325 


habited island; the leader shot a brace of large fat ducks; two of the 
men found some bananas, and two others found some luscious ber¬ 
ries. 

Continuing their voyage, they landed at the cove of Wiru May 4, 
and bought some food of the natives. Two days later, after a storm 
that brought to mind the parting words of the natives of Bumbireh, 
they reached Kagehyi, and were heartily welcomed by the others. There 
was but one white man among the shore party, and Stanley inquired 
where Frederick Barker was, and why he did not come to meet them. 

“Because,” answered Frank Pocock, his face clouding with the 
recollection of loss, “he died twelve days ago, and he lies there.” 

As he spoke, he pointed to a low mound of earth by the lake. Thus 
two of the four white men who had set out from Zanzibar had died on 
the way; and the journey was not half done. 

It was Stanley’s intention to return to Uganda with his full party, 
but the opposition of a chief whose territory lay between Kagehyi and 
Mtesa’s country made it impossible to make the journey by land, as he 
wished to do. He therefore decided to make it by water, as before; but 
had much difficulty in obtaining canoes for the purpose. At last, after 
a personal visit to Lukongeh, the chief of Ukerewe, he succeeded in 
getting twenty-three. These were very old, and he at once set his 
men to work to repair them, while he began negotiations for provisions. 
The vessels were for the transportation of one hundred and fifty men, 
women and children; twelve thousand pounds of grain, five hundred 
pounds of rice, a hundred loads of beads, cloth and wire, and thirty 
cases of ammunition. Most of the last-named article was on the Lady 
Alice. The flotilla sailed at 9 A. M. on June 20; but before they 
reached the Miandereh Islands that night, five canoes had sunk, with 
five guns, one case of ammunition, and twelve hundred pounds of grain. 
Fortunately, all the people were saved; but it was only by the most 
strenuous efforts on the part of Stanley and his men. It is in con¬ 
nection with their brave behavior this night that we first hear of the two 
brothers, Uledi and Shumari, whose names were afterward to be more 
prominent in the story. The canoes were thoroughly inspected the next 


326 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


day, and the work of repairing them was not shirked as it had been 
before starting from Kagehyi. 

Leaving a garrison of forty-four men at Refuge Island, which they 
reached June 24, Stanley returned to Kagehyi for the last time; and 
rejoined the other party July 11. Leaving a garrison at Miandereh 
again for his canoes were not numerous enough to transport the 
whole party at once) he went on his way toward Uganda. 



XIPPOO TIB. 


He must of course pass Bumbireh on his way thither; and it was 
necessary to give the chief of that island a lesson. The king of Iroba 
was captured; and being a neighbor of the chief of Bumbireh, was 
held as a hostage until his subjects had captured Shekka. Fortunately, 
they were about this time reinforced by a number of men whom Mtesa 
had dispatched to hunt up Stanley; so that the strength of the party 
now encamped on Mahyiga Island was four hundred and seventy men. 
This was the condition of affairs when messengers came from Antari, 
King of Ihangiro, the superior of Shekka, demanding the release of that 








STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


327 


chief. It was promised that when they should be released, Antari’s peo¬ 
ple would sell food to the travelers. But this was a mere pretext by 
which Antari sought to gain the confidence of Stanley, preparatory to a 
trial of strength; and when some of the Waganda, deceived by the appar¬ 
ent friendliness, ventured to Bumbireh, they were attacked and eight of 
them badly wounded, six dying from the effects of their injuries after 
the arrival of the party in Uganda. 

ANOTHER BATTLE WITH SAVAGES. 

It was a question in Stanley’s mind what course should be pursued. 
Had it been a purely military expedition there would of course have 
been no doubt; but for some time he hesitated about striking a blow 
except in direct self-defense. Finally, however, he decided that grat¬ 
itude to Mtesa and his Waganda demanded that blood should atone for 
blood. More than this, it was dangerous to leave such a deed un¬ 
avenged; for the savage cannot understand forbearance, which to him 
seems cowardice; patience, which is to him evidence of effeminacy. 
As he could not see any way to avoid the conflict, he determined to 
meet them on their own island, and by one decisive stroke break this 
overweening savage spirit. But Stanley’s own words must tell of the 
just punishment inflicted. 

“We steered straight towards the more exposed hill-slopes. The 
savages, imagining that we were about to effect a landing there, hur¬ 
ried from their coverts, between two and three thousand in number. 
I examined the shores carefully, to see if I could discover the canoes 
which had conveyed this great number of warriors from the main¬ 
land. Meanwhile we pulled slowly, to afford them time to arrange 
themselves. 

“Arrived within a hundred yards of the land, we anchored in line, 
the stone anchors being dropped from midships that the broadsides 
might front the shore. I told Lukanjah of Ukerewe to ask the men of 
Bumbireh if they would make peace, whether we should be friends, 
or whether we should fight. 

“ ‘ Nangu, nangu, nangu!’ (No, no, no!) they answered loudly, 
while they flourished spears and shields. 

“ ‘Will they not do anything to save Sliekka!’ 


326 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


“ ‘ Nangu, nangu! Keep Shekka; lie is nobody. We have another 
M’kama’ (king). 

“ ‘Will they do nothing to save Antari’s son?’ [who also was 
held as a hostage.] 



SUCKING THE POISON FROM A WOUND RECEIVED FROM A POISONED ARROW. 


“ ‘ Nangu, nangu. Antari has many sons. We will do nothing but 
fight. If you had not come here, we should have come to you.’ 










STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


321 ) 


“ ‘You will be sorry for it afterward.’ 

“ ‘Huh!’ incredulously; ‘we are ready; come on.’ 

Further parley was useless; so each man having taken aim was 
directed to fire into a group of fifty or thereabouts. The result was 
several killed and wounded. The savages, perceiving the disastrous 
effect of our fire on a compact body, scattered, and came bounding down 
to the water’s edge, some of the boldest advancing until they were hip- 
deep in water; others, more cautious, sought the shelter of the cane- 
grass, whence they discharged many sheaves of arrows, all of which fell 
short of us. 

“We then moved to within .fifty yards of the shore, to fire at close 
quarters, and each man was permitted to exercise himself as he best 
could. The savages gallantly held the water-line for an hour, and slung 
their stones with better effect than they shot their arrows. The spirit 
which animated them proved what they might had done had they suc¬ 
ceeded in effecting a landing at Mahyiga by night, but here, however, 
the spear, with which they generally fight, was quite useless. 

“Perceiving that their spirit was abating, we drew the canoes to¬ 
gether; and made a feint as though we were about to rush forward 
by hundreds with their spears on the launch. The canoes were then 
suddenly halted, and a volley was fired into the spearmen, which quite 
crushed their courage, causing them to retreat up the hill far away from 
the scene. Our work of chastisement was complete. 

“The Waganda spearmen, two hundred and thirty strong, who had 
been, up to this time, only interested spectators, now clamored loudly 
to be permitted to land, and to complete the work of vengeance. 
M’Kwanga was fierce in his demands; the Wangwana seconded the 
Waganda, and in their hot ardor several of the canoes rushed on the 
shore; but as this extremity was not my object, I resisted them; and 
when, despite my refusal, they persisted in their attempts to land, 
I threatened to fire on the first man, Mgwana or Mganda, who set foot 
on the shore; and this threat restored order.” 

The way being thus cleared, they proceeded on their journey, and 
reached Dumo, in Uganda, a week later (August 12, 1875). Here they 
learned that Mtesa was making preparations for a war against the 


330 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH . 


Wavuma. Before they reached Ntewi, he had already marched against 
Usoga. Two courses were open to Stanley; either he could attempt 
the journey to the Albert Nyanza unaided, or he could proceed to 
Mtesa’s camp, and thence prosecute the journey. He decided upon the 
latter course, believing that the delay would be made up by the shorter 
route which Mtesa’s help would enable him to take. 

THE EMPEROR OF UGANDA. 

He found the emperor of Uganda and his warlike court encamped 
about the Ripon Falls. Mtesa received him with great cordiality, but 
informed him that it was not customary for strangers to proceed on 
their journey while the Kabaka was at war; if Stanley would but wait 
until he had chastised the insolent Wavuma, he should have guides to 
Muta Nzige. Stanley was also informed that the natives of the country 
lying along the route, under their chief, Kabba Rega, were at war 
with the whites of Kaniessa (Gondokoro), and lienee that a consider¬ 
able force would be required. There was nothing for it, then, but to 
await the end of Mtesa’s war. 

Mtesa attempted to end it by negotiations, but his jieace party, 
dispatched to the Wavuma camp on Ingira Island, was massacred be¬ 
fore his very eyes. He decided at length to give battle to the enemy 
daily becoming bolder and more boastful. The result was that the 
Wavuma were left masters of the situation. Mtesa threatened that 
in the next battle, the chief who behaved cowardly should be burned, 
while his lands should be given to the peasant who distinguished him¬ 
self. Let us again quote the words of Stanley: 

‘ ‘ The entire war-fleet of two hundred and thirty vessels rode grace¬ 
fully on the calm gray waters of the channel. The line of battle, I 
observed, was formed by Chambarango, in command of the right flank, 
with fifty canoes; Sambuzi, Kukavya, Chikwata and Saruti, all sub¬ 
chiefs, were ranged with one hundred canoes under the command of 
Kauta, the imperial steward, to form the center; the left flank was in 
charge of the gallant Mkwenda, who had eighty canoes. Tori com¬ 
manded a force of musketeers, and with his four howitzers was sta¬ 
tioned on the causeway, which was by this time two hundred yards from 
the shore. 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH . 


331 


A SEA BATTLE ON NAKARANGA. 

“In the above manner the fleet of vessels, containing some six¬ 
teen thousand men, moved to the attack upon Ingira. The center, de¬ 
fended by the flanks, which were to menace the rear of the Wavuma 
should they approach near the causeway, resolutely advanced to within 
thirty yards of Ingira, and poured in a most murderous fire among the 
slingers of the island, who, imagining that the Waganda meant to 
carry the island by storm, boldly stood exposed, resolved to fight. But 
they were unable to maintain that courageous behavior long. Mkwenda 
then moved up from the left, and attacked with his musketeers the 
Wavuma on the right, riddling their canoes, and making matters speci¬ 
ally hot for them in that quarter. 

“The Wavuma, seeing matters approaching a crisis, and not.wish¬ 
ing to die tamely, manned their canoes, and a hundred and ninety-six 
dashed impetuously, as at first, from the rushes of Ingira with shrill 
loud yells, and the Waganda lines moved backward to the center of the 
channel, where they bravely and coolly maintained their position. As 
the center of the Uganda line parted in front of the causeway, and 
disclosed the hotly advancing enemy, Tori aimed the howitzers and 
fired at a group of about twenty canoes, completely shattering more 
than half of them, and re-loading one quickly, he discharged several 
bolts of iron three inches long among them with terrible effect. Be¬ 
fore this cool bearing of the Waganda, the Wavuma retired to their 
island again, and we saw numbers of canoes discharging their dead 
and wounded; and the Waganda were summoned to the Nakaranga 
shore to receive the congratulations of the emperor and the applause 
of the vast multitude. Mtesa went down to the water’s edge to ex¬ 
press his satisfaction at their behavior. 

“ ‘Go at them again,’ said he, ‘and show them what fighting is.* 

“And the line of battle was again formed, and again the Wavuma 
darted from the cover of the reeds and water-cane with the swiftness 
of hungry sharks, beating the water into foam with their paddles, and 
rending the air with their fearful yells. It was one of the most excit¬ 
ing and animating scenes I ever beheld; but, owing to the terror of the 
stake with which their dread monarch had threatened them, the Wa- 


332 


STAX LEVS TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


ganda distinguished themselves for coolness and method, and the Wa- 
vuma, as on a former occasion, for intrepidity and desperate courage. 

“A third time the "Waganda vrere urged to the battle, and a third 
time the unconquerable and desperate enemy dashed upon them, to be 
smitten and wounded sore in a battle where they had not the least 
chance of returning blow for blow without danger of being swept by the 
cannon and muskets on the causeway. 



THE BYA'CHOCYOX—A PECULIAR AFRICAN RAT. 


“A third battle was fought a few days after between one hundred 
and seventy-eight Wavuma canoes and one hundred and twenty-two 
Waganda; but had the "Waganda possessed the spirit and dash of their 
enemies, they might have decided the war on this day; for the Wa- 
vuma were greatly dispirited. A fourth battle was fought the next 
day by two hundred and fourteen "Waganda canoes and two hundred 
and three TTavuma canoes, after the usual delay and premonitory 
provocation. The TVavuma obtained the victory most signally. * * * 





























STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


333 


The Waganda were disorganized and dispirited after the signal de¬ 
feat they had experienced. * * * () n inquiring into the cause of the 

disaster, I learned that Mtesa’s gunpowder was almost exhausted, and 
that he had scarcely a round left for each musket.” 

to 

Although Stanley was bound to Mtesa by past evidences of friend¬ 
ship, as well as by the hope of assistance in the future, he could not but 
feel strong admiration for the heroic Wavuma; and bent his energies 
“upon a solution of the problem how to injure none, but satisfy all.” 
While he was considering this puzzling question, he was summoned to 
the council-chamber, where Mtesa was making ready to torture to 
death a Wavuma who had fallen into his hands. The emperor had but 
a few days before announced himself a Christian; and Stanley now 
warmly protested against such an un-Christian act. His arguments 
were disregarded for a long time, but finally, Mtesa listened to him. 
Stanley then promised to build a structure which should terrify the Wa¬ 
vuma, if Mtesa would but give him plenty of help. 

The Waganda are, timid about fighting on water, being unused to 
the unstable element; it was for this reason that Stanley had advised 
the building of a causeway from the mainland to the island, that they 
might thus be on a more equal footing with the seamen Wavuma; but 
the Waganda chiefs did not take kindly to the idea, and the causeway 
was not finished. Mtesa now gave orders that Stanley’s directions 
should be minutely obeyed. 

He selected three of the strongest built canoes, each seventy feet 
long and six and one-half feet wide; and had them drawn up four feet 
from each other. Tall trees were laid across them, and lashed firmly 
to the thwarts. Seven-foot poles were lashed to the thwarts of the 
outer canoes, and long poles, one inch in diameter, twisted in among 
these. When completed, it resembled an oblong stockade, which the 
spears of the enemy could not penetrate; and formed a floating fort, 
propelled by invisible rowers, and manned by more than two hundred 
men. This immense structure slowly advanced toward the island, 
while a voice from within asked the Wavuma if they were ready to 
submit to Mtesa now; if they went through the form, of submission, 
he offered pardon to all; if they refused, this terrible thing would blow 


334 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 



FIRST VIEW OF T.ATCF ALBERT NYANZA* 











STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


335 


them into atoms. The Wavuma, terrified by the strange thing, which 
doubtless contained some powerful spirits, yielded to the demand; and 
the mysterious structure solemnly began its way back to the cove 
whence it had started. Thus the Wavuma, like the Trojans, were 
conquered by strategy when their determined valor defied open force. 

Here ends this marvellous circumnavigation of that mysterious 
large lake, which no white man before had explored. Its thrilling ad¬ 
venturous, brisk fighting and dangerous escapades even surpass 
Ulysses’ adventures as told by the immortal Homer and we should have 
to fill a whole book would we narrate them all. King Mtesa granted our 
heroes the desired guide and escort for his visit to Albert Nyanza, 
and they at once began their overland march, carrying their barge, 
Lady Alice, and a canoe which had been named the “Livingstone.” 
They had to pass through warlike tribes, but their escort consisted of 
more than 2,000 men besides Stanley’s own force of 180, so that they 
were not attacked by the natives. 

THEY ARRIVE AT ALBERT NYANZA. 

They reached the shores of the lake in January; but there was a 
precipice with a sheer descent of fifty feet, down which the boats must 
be lowered; and while they were debating about the best way to ac¬ 
complish this, hostile demonstrations by the natives frightened the 
Waganda, who were already discontented; and the leader of that force 
determined to return. Stanley was advised by his captains that half 
of his own force would accompany the Waganda in spite of all they 
could do; and he was therefore compelled to return with them. With 
the punishment that Mtesa inflicted upon his disobedient subjects, we 
have nothing to do. He expressed the greatest regret to Stanley that 
they had not fulfilled their orders; and offered a force of a hundred 
thousand men for the accomplishment of the traveler’s purpose, if 
that number should be necessary. The offer was, however, declined; 
and Stanley left Uganda. 

Stanley next visited Rumanika, the gentle king who was subordinate 
to the fiery Mtesa. The dusky giant (for Rumanika was six feet six 
in his bare feet) received Stanley with much kindness, and praised his 


336 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


country, Karagwe. He claimed not only the great river, Kagera, but a 
more wonderful thing still, the Hot Springs of Mtagata. Under the 
escort of this chief, Stanley began the circumnavigation of Lake Wind¬ 
ermere, March 8; and made several similar excursions from his camp 
on the Kagera. 

March 11, Rumanika furnished him with an escort of thirty men 
and a guide for his visit to Mtagata Hot Springs, which they reached 



NIAM-NIAMS (MAN AND WOMAN). 


after two days’ journey. These remarkable springs are six in num¬ 
ber, the temperature varying from one hundred and seven degees 
Fahrenheit to one hundred and twenty-nine and one-half degrees. A 
sample of the water taken to London and there analyzed, showed it to 
be faintly alkaline, holding sodium carbonate in solution. The natives 
praised the waters of the springs so highly that Stanley resolved to test 
them in his own person; but although he remained three days there 
and drank an enormous quantity of the water, he experienced no good. 
He intimates that the benefit received in cutaneous diseases results 













































STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


337 


more from the unusual cleanliness than from any virtue in the water it¬ 
self. 

A great deal of information was received from Rumanika concern¬ 
ing the geography of the surrounding country; and his sub-chiefs added 
their quota. Rumanika’s knowledge (not drawn from personal ex¬ 
perience) included a race of people but two feet high, another with 
tails, and still another with ears so long that they touched the ground 
when the man stood upright, and when he lay down, formed a sleep¬ 
ing mat and a covering from the cold. 

Having traced the extreme southern sources of the Nile, from the 
marshy plains and cultivated uplands where they are born, down to 
the mighty reservoir called the Victoria Nyanza, Stanley, on April 7, 
resumed his “journey in a southerly direction, and traveled five miles 
along a ravine, at the bottom of which murmured the infant stream 
Luhugati. On coming to its source we ascended a steep slope until we 
stood on the summit of a grassy ridge at the height of five thousand 
six hundred feet by aneroid. Not until we had descended a mile to the 
valley of Uyagoma did I recognize the importance of this ridge as the 
water-parting between one of the feeders of the Lake Victoria and the 
source of the Malagarazi, the principal affluent of Lake Tanganyika.” 

Descending into the basin of the Tanganyika, the expedition arrived 
at Serombo April 22, and here received a visit from the mighty Mir- 
ambo whose war with the Arabs was now at an end. He insisted on 
making blood-brotherhood with Stanley, and tried to excel the white 
man in the generosity of his gifts. 

We need not follow them through the uneventful journey to the 
shore of the Tanganyika. They arrived at ITjiji May 27,1876. Provid¬ 
ing for the well-being of his followers during his absence, Stanley set 
out, June 11, with eleven men and two boy gun-bearers, to circum¬ 
navigate the lake, with the view of finding its outlet. The Lady Alice 
was accompanied by a canoe lent by an Arab, called the Meofu. The 
Arabs of Ujiji were quite convinced that these vessels would never be 
able to live in the Tanganyika, and predicted the most doleful things. 

They arrived at the banks of the Lukuga July 16. It will be re¬ 
membered that Cameron positively asserted that this river flows out of 


338 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


Lake Tanganyika. Stanley was unable to find any current; and de¬ 
cided that what had been a river, the affluent of Tanganyika, was now 
but a creek or inlet, above which were marshes and ooze. He explains 
this by supposing that the surface of Tanganyika has been steadily 
rising, until the lake is now above the mouth of the original river; and 
adduces proof that the lake had actually risen considerable since the 
time that he, in company with Livingstone, explored its shores. His 
recollections of particular points were confirmed by Arabs resident at 

Ujiji. 


SMALL-POX AND FEVER. 

The circumnavigation of the lake was completed July 31, after an 
absence of fifty-one days from Ujiji. Stanley found the small-pox 
raging in this place, and it had carried off five of his men, who had 
evaded vaccination at Rosako. The fever attacked him, as it had also 
attacked his lieutenant, Frank Pocock, during his absence; and to add 
to their troubles, thirty-eight men deserted on the eve of their depart¬ 
ure from Ujiji. Five more disappeared during the first stages of their 
journey, one of whom was Kalulu. Stanley determined to recover these 
men, for he had shortly before treated them with the greatest generos¬ 
ity, distributing three hundred and fifty pounds’ worth of cloth among 
them gratuitously. Pocock and Kacheche were sent after the deserters, 
and captured seven, one of whom was Kalulu; these receiving merited 
punishment, an end was put to misconduct and faithlessness for the 
time. 

The shores of the Luama were reached October 11; and they followed 
this stream for a distance of two hundred and twenty miles, to its con¬ 
fluence with the greater river. The Luama here was about four hun¬ 
dred yards wide; the Lualaba, one thousand four hundred. “A broad 
river, of a pale grey color, winding slowly from south and by east. 

* * * A secret rapture filled my soul as I gazed upon the majestic 

stream. The great mystery that for all these centuries Nature had kept 
hidden away from the world of science, was waiting to be solved. 

* * * Before me lay the superb river; my task was to follow it to the 


ocean. 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


339 


A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION. 

At the village of Mkwanga, eight miles from the confluence of these 
rivers, they met with Tippu Tib, otherwise Hamed bin Mohammed, a 
noted Arab trader with whom Cameron had had dealings; and from 
whom they learned how the Englishman had failed to obtain the canoes 
necessary for the descent of the Lualaba. The Arab endeavored to dis¬ 
suade him from the attempt; and painted the difficulties of the journey 
in strong colors. Stanley himself saw what they were; Livingstone the 
Beloved had failed to overcome them by persuasion; Cameron had failed 
to overcome them with his forty-five Snider rifles—an argument more 
generally understood by the savages. Tippu-Tib would not consent to 
be his escort unless Stanley would return to Nyangwe with him. What 
should be done? Stanley took his trusty lieutenant into council, and 
carefully stated all the advantages and difficulties of the various al¬ 
ternatives that presented themselves. Both were at heart anxious to 
explore the Lualaba to its mouth, but neither would say so. Under these 
circumstances, Frank made a proposition. 

“ ‘I say, sir, let us toss up; best two out of three to decide it.’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ Toss away; here is a rupee. ’ 

“ ‘Heads for the north and the Lualaba; tails for the south and 
Katanga.’ 

“Frank stood up, his face beaming. He tossed the rupee high up. 
The coin dropped. 

“ ‘What is it?’ I asked. 

“ ‘Tails, sir,’ said Frank, with a face expressive of strong disap¬ 
proval. 

“ ‘Toss again.’ 

“He tossed again, and tails was again announced—and six times run¬ 
ning tails won. We then tried straws —the short straws for the south, the 
long straws for the River Lualaba—and again we were disappointed, for 
Frank persisted in drawing out the short straws, and in leaving the long 
straws in my hands. 

“ ‘It is of no use, Frank. We’ll face our destiny despite the rupee 
and the straws. With your help, my dear fellow, I will follow the 

> > i 


river. 


340 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


A contract was concluded with Tippu Tib, by which the trader agreed 
to accompany them sixty marches, of four hours each, when, if they 
found the country hostile, they should return with him to Nyangwe; if 
they met Portuguese or Arab traders, a portion of the expedition was to 
continue the journey with them, and the remainder to return with Tippu 
Tib. This arrangement prevented desertions, as no Arab would harbor 
a runaway from an expedition with which one of their own countrymen 
was connected. 

November 5,1876, they left Nyangwe, one hundred and forty-six men 
comprising the expedition proper while Tippu Tib mustered seven hun¬ 
dred. Their road lay through the dense, almost impenetrable forest; 
and their progress at first was necessarily slow. So slow, indeed, that 
the Arab trader became disgusted, and regardless of the loss of the 
money, which was to be forfeited if he refused to fulfill his part of the 
contract, announced that he intended to return. Arguments at length 
persuaded him to compromise, and the expedition again took up the 
line of march. 

In a village of Uvinza, Stanley found the principal street decorated 
with skulls which looked to him like those of the human species. The 
chief and his people, however, informed him that they were soko skulls; 
that the sokos stole their bananas, and were because of that hunted by 
his people, the flesh being used for meat. Stanley purchased two of the 
skulls, some of which bore the marks of the hatchet which had caused 
death; and on his return to England submitted them to Professor Hux¬ 
ley. The eminent scientist unhesitatingly pronounced them human, one 
being a man’s, the other a woman’s; thus showing that the Wavinza are 
cannibals. 

November 19, they reached a point on the Lualaba forty-one miles 
north of Nyangwe, in latitude three degrees thirty-five seconds south, 
and twenty-five degrees, forty-nine seconds east longitude. From this 
point, Stanley speaks of the river as the Livingstone, claiming that as 
the name is changed each time it receives an affluent, it is useless to at¬ 
tempt to follow the native designations. Here it was, while busily plan¬ 
ning the future journey, that Stanley suddenly saw his way clear before 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


341 


him. They had encamped on the banks of the river, and he had been con¬ 
sidering the means of crossing it. 

“I sprang up; told the drummer to call to muster. The people re¬ 
sponded wearily to the call. Frank and the chiefs appeared. The Arabs 
and their escort came also, until a dense mass of expectant faces sur¬ 
rounded me. I turned to them and said: 

“ ‘Arabs! Sons of Unyamwezi! Children of Zanzibar! Listen to 
words. We have seen the Mitamba of Uregga. We have tasted its bit¬ 
terness, and groaned in spirit. We seek a road. We seek something by 
which we may travel. I seek a path that shall take me to the sea. I have 
found it.’ 

“ ‘Ah! A-ali-h!’ and murmurs and inquiring looks at one another. 

“ ‘Yes! El hamd ul Illahl I have found it. Regard this mighty 

river. From the beginning it has flowed on thus, as you see it flow to- 

dav. It has flowed on in silence and darkness. Whither? To the Salt 
%/ 

Sea, as all rivers go. By that Salt Sea, on which the great ships come 
and go, live my friends, and your friends, Do they not?’ 

‘ ‘ Cries of ‘ Yes! yes! ’ 

“ ‘Yet, my people, although this river is so great, so wide and deep, 
no man has ever penetrated the distance lying between this spot on which 
we stand and our white friends who live by the Salt Sea. Why? Be¬ 
cause it was left for us to do!’ 

“ ‘Ah, no! no! no!’ and despairing shakes of the head. 

“ ‘Yes,’ I continued, raising my voice; ‘I tell you, my friends, it has 
been left from the beginning of time until today for us to do. It is our 
work, and no other. It is the voice of Fate! The ONE GOD has written 
that this year the river shall be known throughout its length! We will 
have no more Mitambas; we will have no more panting and groaning by 
the wayside; we will have no more hideous darkness; we will take to the 
river, and keep to the river. To-day I shall launch my boat on that 
stream, and it shall never leave it until I finish my work. I swear it! ’ 

“ ‘Now, you Wangwana! You who have followed me through Turn, 
and sailed around the great lakes with me; you have followed me like 
children following their father through Unyoro and down to Ujiji, and 
as far as this wild, wild land, will you leave me here? Shall I and my 


342 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


white brother go alone? Will you go back and tell my friends that you 
left me in this wild spot, and cast me adrift to die? Or will you, to whom 
I have been so kind, whom I love as I would love my children, will you 
bind me, and take me back by force? Speak, Arabs! Where are my 
young men, with hearts of lions? Speak, Wangwana, and show me those 
who dare follow me!’ 

“Uledi, the coxswain, leaped upward, and then sprang towards me, 
and kneeling grasped my knees and said: 

“ ‘Look on me, my master! I am one! I will follow you to death!’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ And I, ’ Kaclieclie cried. 

“ ‘And I, and I, and I,’ shouted the boat’s crew. 

“ ‘It is well. I knew I had friends. You then who have cast your lot 
with me stand on one side, and let me count you.’ 

“There were thirty-eight. Ninety-five stood still and said 'nothing. 

“ ‘I have enough. Even with you, my friends, I shall reach the sea. 
But there is plenty of time. We have not yet made our canoes. We have 
not yet parted with the Arabs. We have yet a long distance to travel 
with Tippu Tib. We may meet with good people, from whom we may 
buy canoes. And by the time we part I am sure that the ninety-five men 
now fearing to go with us will not leave their brothers, and their master 
and his white brother, to go down the river without them. Meantime, I 
give you many thanks, and shall not forget your names.’ ” 

While Stanley was speaking to the Arabs, endeavoring to persuade 
them that cataracts and cannibals were dangers which lie should over¬ 
come, a canoe had approached from the opposite bank, with two men 
in it. They demanded a thousand cowries for each man whom their 
tribe should set across the river; and being offered ten, withdrew, utter¬ 
ing a peculiar cry, which Stanley’s interpreter declared was a war- 
cry. Stanley crossed the river in the Lady Alice, and entered into nego¬ 
tiations with the horde of savages that he found there. It was agreed, 
upon the demand of the natives, that ten men should go from each side 
to a certain island the next morning and make blood-brotherhood. For¬ 
tunately the white man was on his guard; and secretly posted a reserve 
of twenty men in the bushes before sending oil Frank and the stipulated 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


343 



ATTACK ON A NEGRO VILLAGE BY SLAVE HUNTERS 





























344 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


escort. The savages landed later, and although they behaved well at first, 
by the time that six canoes had discharged their human cargo they be¬ 
came so violent that had not Frank and his men risen with their guns 
ready they would have been speared where they sat. Seeing the state of 
affairs, the reserve emerged from the bushes. Stanley, who was four 
minutes’ row up the stream in the Lady Alice, bade his men bend to 
their oars; and the treacherous savages, seeing that their wiles had 
been foreseen, took to their canoes and paddled away. 

Stanley then landed thirty men with axes on the other side of the 
river; and floating down to a point opposite the Wenya village, tossed a 
small bag of beads on shore, and professed himself willing to pay for the 
ferriage, explaining that it was useless for them to resist longer, as 
thirty of his men were already landed in their country. A good under¬ 
standing seemed to be thus established; and the expedition was ferried 
over in safety. 

But the natives seized the first opportunity to decamp; and when the 
travelers went to their village the next morning, to cement the new 
friendship by means of gifts, not a soul was to be found. It was the 
same in the neighboring villages; the alarm had spread from place to 
place during the night. 

The force was now divided, thirty-six men, including Stanley, form¬ 
ing the river party, while the remainder marched by land. The river 
party arrived November 23, at the mouth of the Ruiki, and after wait¬ 
ing until the next morning, rowed up stream to look for the others. Not 
finding any trace of them, the boat returned to the camp, where about 
two-thirds of this small party had been left as a garrison. It had been 
attacked during the leader’s absence; but although there were several 
sheaves of iron-headed and wooden spears, besides reed arrows, in the 
camp, no one of the travelers had been wounded. The land party did not 
arrive until the next day; and told of having been attacked, three of their 
number being killed. They had lost the road and were thus delayed. 

The rapids of Ukassa were passed the next day; not without danger 
from the natives as well as from the waters; and from this point forward 
we find the two perils constantly besetting the adventurers. Nor was 
this all; such was the physical condition of the men, that “there was 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


345 

enough work in the stricken expedition for a dozen physicians. Every 
day we tossed two or three bodies into the deep waters of the Living¬ 
stone—poor creatures, what a life! wandering, ever wandering, in search 
of graves. ’ ’ 


NEW DIFFICULTIES. 

Let us follow the history of a few days more minutely than ever; 
to see what were the difficulties besetting them. It is December, and 
they have passed the island of Mpika about the middle of the month. 
“While rowing down, close to the left bank, we were surprised by a 



THE quagga 
























































346 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


cry from one of the guards of the hospital canoes, and turning round 
saw an arrow fixed in his chest. The next instant, looking towards the 
bank, we saw many men in the jungle, and several arrows flew past my 
head in extremely unpleasant proximity. 

“We sheered off, pulling hard down stream. * * * We drew in 
shore, and sending out ten scouts to lie in wait in the jungle, I mustered 
all the healthy men, about thirty in number, and proceeded to construct a 
fence of brushwood. Presently a shriek of agony from another of my 
men rang out through the jungle, followed immediately by the sharp 
crack of the scouts’ Sniders, which again was responded to by an in¬ 
fernal din of war-horns and yells, while arrows flew past us from all 
directions. Twenty more men were at once sent into the jungle to assist 
the scouts, while, with might and main, we labored to surround our 
intended camp with tall and dense hedges of brushwood, with sheltered 
nooks for riflemen. After an hour’s labor, the camp was deemed suf¬ 
ficiently tenable, and the recall was sounded. The scouts retreated on 
the run, shouting as they approached: 

“ ‘Prepare! prepare! they are coming!’ 

“About fifty yards of ground outside of our camp had been cleared, 
which, upon the retreat of the scouts who had been keeping them in check, 
was soon filled by hundreds of savages, who pressed upon us from all 
sides but the river, in the full expectation that we were flying in fear. 
But they were mistaken, for we were at bay, and desperate in our re¬ 
solve not to die without fighting. Accordingly, at such close quarters 
the contest became terrific. Again and again the savages hurled them¬ 
selves upon our stockade, launching spear after spear with deadly force 
into the camp, to be each time repulsed. Sometimes the muzzles of the 
guns almost touched their breasts. The shrieks, cries, shouts of encour¬ 
agement, the rattling volley of musketry, the booming war-horns, the 
yells and defiance of the combatants, the groans and screams of the wo¬ 
men and children in the hospital camp, made together such a medley 
of hideous noises as can never be effaced from my memory. For 
two hours this desperate conflict lasted. More than once, some of the 
Wangwana were about to abandon the struggle and run to the canoes, 
but Uledi the coxswain and Frank threatened them with clubbed mus- 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


347 


kets, and with the muzzles of their rifles drove them back to the stock¬ 
ades. At dusk the enemy retreated from the vicinity of the clearing; 
but the hideous alarms produced from their ivory horns, and increased 
by the echoes of the dense forest, continued; and now and again a venge¬ 
ful poison-laden arrow flew by with an ominous whiz to quiver in the 
earth at our feet, or fall harmlessly into the river behind us.” 

A strict watch was kept during the night; but the men in the camp 
were so quiet that those in the jungle thought they slept, and attacked 
them. In the morning, they rowed about five hundred yards down the 
river, and occupied a deserted village on the right bank. 

“We were not long left unmolested. The savages recovered their 
wits, and strove desperately to dislodge us, but at each end of the village, 
which was about three hundred yards long, our muskets blazed inces¬ 
santly. I also caused three or four sharp-shooters to ascend tall trees 
along the river banks, which permitted them, although unseen, to over¬ 
look the tall grasses and rear of the village, and to defend us from fire. 
* * * The combat lasted till noon, when, mustering twenty-five 

men, we made a sally, and succeeded in clearing the skirts of the village 
for the day. * * * During the night there was a slight alarm, and 

now and then the tapping on the roofs and the pattering among the 
leaves informed us that our enemies were still about, though we did not 
reply to them. The next morning an assault was attempted; but the 
enemy retreated almost immediately into the jungle. 

DESPERATE BATTLE WITH NATIVES. 

“About noon, a large flotilla of canoes was observed ascending the 
river close to the left bank, manned by such a dense mass of men that, 
any number between five hundred and eight hundred would be within the 
mark. We watched them very carefully until they had ascended the 
river about half a mile above us, when, taking advantage of the cur¬ 
rent, they bore down towards us, blowing their war-horns, and drum¬ 
ming vigorously. At the same moment, as though this were a signal 
in concert with those on land, war-horns responded from the forest, and 
I had scarcely time to order every man to look out when the battle-tem¬ 
pest of arrows broke upon us from the woods. But the twenty men in the 


348 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


nests at the corners of the villages proved sufficient to resist the attack 
from the forest side, Frank Pocock being in charge of one, and Sheikh 
Abdallah of the other, while I, with twenty men lining the bushes along 
the water line, defended the river side. 

“This was a period when every man felt that he must either fight or 
resign himself to the only other alternative, that of being heaved a head¬ 
less corpse into the river. * * * Therefore, though the notes of the 

war-horns were dreadful, our foes pertinacious and numerous, and evi¬ 
dently accustomed to victory, I failed to observe one man among my peo¬ 
ple then fighting who did not seem desirous to excel even Uledi the cox¬ 
swain. 

“The battle had continued half an hour with a desperate energy, only 
qualified by our desperate state. Ammunition we possessed in abund¬ 
ance, and we made use of it with deadly effect, yet what might have 
become of us is doubtful, had not the advanced guard of Tippu Tib and 
our land division arrived at this critical juncture, causing dismay to the 
savages in the forest, who announced the reinforcement by horns to the 
savages in the canoes, many of whom were making strenuous efforts to 
effect a landing. The river savages, upon hearing these signals, with¬ 
drew, but as they were paddling away they proclaimed their intention 
of preventing all escape, either up river or down river, and expressed 
their contempt for us by throwing water towards us with their paddles. 
We saw the canoe mysteriously disappear behind an island, situated 
about sixteen hundred yards off and opposite to our camp.” 

That night, Stanley and Pocock, with crews of picked men, made their 
way, with muffled oars, to the island, and captured thirty-eight of the 
enemy’s canoes. This enabled them to make their own terms with the 
savages, who were glad enough to make blood-brotherhood with Safeni 
for the return of fifteen of their vessels. Stanley had lost four men 
killed in the contest and thirteen wounded. 

Stanley now determined to dispense with his Arab escort; and since 
a sufficient number of canoes had been procured, to take to the river in 
good earnest. Food must be procured and prepared for at least twenty 
days; the canoes must be thoroughly overhauled, and lashed in couples, 
to prevent their capsizing. The vessels were named by the Zanzibaris 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


349 


after those which visited their native place; except half a dozen, which 
were christened by the two white men. 

ATTACKED BY CANNIBALS. 

Christmas day was passed pleasantly and happily. Three days later 
the final farewells were spoken; the Arabs returned toward the starting- 
point, and the expedition sailed down the river, toward the Unknown. 

For a week they journeyed through a country where the war-cry, 
frequently heard, was “Meat!” but fortunately they were not seriously 
molested, as their camp was always well guarded at night; and the 
fame of their prowess had evidently preceded them. On January 4,1877, 
they came within hearing of the first cataract of Stanley Falls. But 
louder yet sounded the piercing yells of the savage Mwana Ntaba from 
both sides of the great river. This tribe had attacked them the previous 
afternoon, but had been repulsed, a huge canoe of theirs being cap¬ 
tured by the Lady Alice. Theirs was a terrible alternative; either they 
must face the cannibals, collected in they knew not what numbers, or 
they must dare the cataracts. Possibly it was only a choice between 
deaths, by knives or by drowning; the latter was certain, if they chose 
the water route; the former left room for hope, if they chose the land 
route. They therefore decided to fight the way around the cataracts. 

“There was only one way to resolve the problem, and that was to meet 
the Bakumu and dare their worst, and then to drag the canoes through 
the dense forest on the left bank. Accordingly, we prepared for what 
we felt assured would be a stubborn contest. At early dawn of the 10th 
of January, with quick throbbing pulses, we stole up the river for about 
a mile, and then with desperate haste dashed across to the shore [from 
the island where they had been encamped] where we became immedi¬ 
ately engaged. We floated down to the bend just above the cataract, and 
there secured our boats and canoes out of the influence of the stream. 
Leaving Frank with eight men and sixty axes to form a stockade, I led 
thirty-six men in a line through the bushes, and drove the united Baswa 
and Bakumu backward to their villages, the first of which were situated 
a mile from the river. Here a most determined stand was made by them, 
for they had piled up heaps of brushwood, and cut down great trees to 


350 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


form defenses, leaving only a few men in front. We crept through the 
jungle on the south side and succeeded in forcing an entrance and driving 
them out. We had thus won peace for this day, and retreated to our 
camp. We then divided the expedition into two parties, or relays, one to 
work by night, the other by day, after which I took a picked body of 
pioneers with axes and guns and cut a narrow path three miles in length, 
blazing the trees as> a guide, and forming rude camps at intervals of 
half a mile. * * * 

“We were not further disturbed "during this day. In the evening 
Frank began his work with fifty axemen, and ten men as scouts, de¬ 
ployed in the bush,es in front of the working party. Before dawn we 
were all awakened, and making a rush with the canoes, succeeded in 
safely reaching our first camp by 9 A. M., with all canoes and baggage. 
During the passage of the rear-guard the Bakumu made their presence 
known to us by a startling and sudden outburst of cries; but the scouts 
immediately replied to them with their rifles, and maintained their posi¬ 
tion until they were supported by the other armed men, who were now 
led forward as on the day before. We chased the savages two miles 
inland, to other, villages which we had not hitherto seen ; and these also 
we compelled them to abandon.” 

PASSING THE CATARACTS. 

Thus the work of passing the cataracts went on, night and day, and 
after seventy-eight hours’ immense exertions, the canoes were launched 
once more. But their difficulties were not yet at an end. Three cat¬ 
aracts had been passed in safety; how many remained below? But per¬ 
haps an extract from Stanley’s journal will give a more vivid picture of 
the occurrences the day after the third cataract was safely jiassed than 
any other words could do: 

“ January 14.—As soon as we reached the river we began to float the 
canoes down to a two-mile stretch of rapids to a camp opposite the south 
end of Ntunduru Island. Six canoes were taken down safely by the gal¬ 
lant boat’s crew. The seventh canoe was manned by Muscati, Uledi 
Muscati, and Zaidi, a chief. Muscati, the steersman, lost his presence of 
mind, and soon upset his canoe in a piece of bad water. Muscati and 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


351 


his friend Uledi swam down the furious stream, to Ntunduru Island, 
whence they were saved by the eighth canoe, manned by stout-hearted 
Manwa Sera and Uledi, the coxswain of the Lady Alice; but poor Zaidi, 
the chief, paralyzed by the roar of the stream, unfortunately thought 
his safety was assured by clinging to his canoe, which was soon swept 
past our new camp, in full view of those who had been deputed with 
Frank to form it, to what seemed inevitable death. But a kindly Provi¬ 
dence, which he has himself gratefully acknowledged, saved him even on 
the brink of eternity. The great fall at the north end of Ntunduru Island 
happens to be disparted by a single pointed rock, and on this the canoe 
was driven, and, borne down by the weight of the waters, was soon split 
in two, one side of which got jammed below, the other tilted upward. To 
this the almost drowned man clung, while perched on the rocky point, 
with his ankles washed by the stream. To his left, as he faced up stream, 
there was a stretch of fifty yards of falling water; to his right were 
nearly fifty yards of leaping brown waves, while close behind him the 
water fell down sheer to six or eight feet, through a gap ten yards wide, 
between the rocky point on which he was perched and a rocky islet three 
hundred yards long. 

“When called to the scene by his weeping friends from my labors 
up river, I could scarcely believe my eyes, or realize the strange chance 
which placed him there; and certainly a more critical position than the 
poor fellow was in cannot be imagined. * * * The solitary man on that 
narrow pointed rock was apparently calmer than any of us; though 
we could approach within fifty yards, he could not hear a word we said; 
he could see us, and feel assured that we sympathized with him in his 
terrible position. 

“We then, after collecting our faculties, began to prepare means to 
save him. After sending men to collect rattans, we formed a cable, by 
which we attempted to lower a small canoe, but the instant it seemed to 
reach him the force of the current hurrying to the fall was so great that 
the cable snapped like packthread, and the canoe swept by him like an 
arrow, and was engulfed, shattered, split, and pounded into fragments. 
Then we endeavored to toss toward him poles tied with creepers, but 
the vagaries of the current and its convulsive heaving made it impos- 


352 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


sible to reach him with them, while the man dared not move a hand, but 
sat silent, watching our futile efforts, while the conviction gradually set¬ 
tled on our minds that his doom, though protracted, was certain. 

“Then, after anxious deliberation with myself, I called for another 
canoe, and lashed to the bow of it a cable consisting of three one-inch 
rattans twisted together and strengthened by all the tent ropes. A simi¬ 
lar cable was lashed to the side, and a third was fastened to the stern, 
each of these cables being ninety yards in length. A shorter cable, thirty 
yards in length, was lashed to the stern of the canoe, which was to be 
guided within reach of him by a man in the canoe. 

“Two volunteers were called for. No one would step forward. I 
offered rewards. Still no one would respond. But when I began to 
speak to them, asking them how they would like to be in such a position 
without a single friend offering to assist in saving them, Uledi the cox¬ 
swain came forward and said: 

“ ‘Enough, master, I will go. Mambu Kiva Mungu ’—My fate is in 
the hands of God. 

“And immediately he began preparing himself by binding his loin¬ 
cloth firmly about his waist. Then Marzouk, a boat-boy, said: 

“ ‘Since Uledi goes, I will go too.’ 

“Other boat-boys, young Shumari and Aaywa, offered their services, 
but I checked them, and said: 

“ ‘You surely are not tired of me, are you, that you all wish to die? 
If all my brave boat-boys are lost, what shall we do?’ ” 

RESCUE OF ZAIDI. 

“Uledi and his friend Marzouk stepped into the canoe with the air of 
gladiators, and we applauded them heartily, but enjoined on them to be 
careful. Then I turned to the crowd on the shore who were manning 
the cables, and bade them beware of the least carelessness, as the lives of 
the three young men depended on their attention to the orders that would 
be given. 

“The two young volunteers were requested to paddle across the river, 
so that the stern might be guided by those on shore. The bow and side 
cables were slackened until the canoe was within twenty yards of the 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


358 



HIPPOPOTAMI THAT MR. ROOSEVELT WAS VERY SUCCESSFTL IN SHOOTING. 
















































































354 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


roaring falls, and XTledi endeavored to guide the cable to Zaidi, but the 
convulsive heaving of the river swept the canoe constantly to one side, 
where it hovered over the steep slope and brown waves of the left 
branch, from the swirl of which we were compelled to draw it. Five 
times the attempt was made, but at last, the sixth time,, encouraged by 
the safety of the cables, we lowered the canoe until it was within ten 
yards of Zaidi, and Uledi lifted the short cable and threw it over to him 
and struck his arm. He had just time to grasp it before he was car¬ 
ried over into the chasm below. For thirty seconds we saw nothing of 
him, and thought him lost, when his head rose above the edge of the fall¬ 
ing waters. Instantly the word was given to haul away, but at the first 
pull the bow and side cables parted, and the canoe began to glide down 
the left branch with my two boat-boys on board! The stern cable next 
parted, and, horrified at the result, we stood muttering: “La il Allah, il 
Allah / watching the canoe severed from us drifting to certain destruc¬ 
tion, when we suddenly observed it halted. Zaidi, in the channel clinging 
to his cable was acting as a kedge-anclior, which swept the canoe against 
the rocky islet. Uledi and Marzouk sprang out of the canoe, and lean¬ 
ing over assisted Zaidi out of the falls, and the three, working with des¬ 
perate energy, succeeded in securing the canoe on the islet. 

“But though we hurrahed and were exceedingly rejoiced, their po¬ 
sition was still but a short reprieve from death. There were fifty yards 
of wild waves, and a resistless rush of water, between them and safety, 
and to the right of them was a fall three hundred yards in width, and 
below was a mile of falls and rapids, and great whirlpools, and waves 
rising like little hills in the middle of the terrible stream, and below 
these were the fell cannibals of Wane-Mukwa and Asama. 

“How to reach the island was a question which now perplexed me. 
We tied a stone to about a hundred yards of whipcord, and after the 
twentieth attempt they managed to catch it. To the end of the whipcord 
they tied the tent rope which had parted before, and drawing it to our 
side we tied the stout rattan creeper, which they drew across taut and 
fastened to a rock, by which we thought we had begun to bridge the 
stream. But night drawing nigh, we said to them that we would defer 
further experiment till morning. 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


355 


“ Meantime the ninth canoe, whose steersman was a supernumerary 
of the boat, had likewise got upset, and he out of six men was drowned, 
to our regret, but the canoe was saved. All other vessels were brought 
down safely, but so long as my poor faithful Uledi and his friends are on 
the islet, and still in the arms of death, the night finds us gloomy, sor¬ 
rowing, and anxious. 

“January 15.—My first dut)^ this morning was to send greetings to 
the three brave lads on the islet, and to assure them that they should be 
saved before they were many hours older. Thirty men with guns were 
sent to protect thirty other men searching for rattans in the forest, and 
by nine o’clock we possessed sixty strong canes, besides other long climb¬ 
ers, and as fast as we were able to twist them together they were drawn 
across by Uledi and his friends. Besides, we sent light cables to be 
lashed round the waist of each man, after which we felt trebly assured 
that all accidents were guarded against. Then hailing them I motioned 
to Uledi to begin, while ten men seized the cable, one end of which he 
had fastened around his waist. Uledi was seen to lift up his hands to 
heaven, and waving his hands to us as he leaped into the wild flood, seiz¬ 
ing the bridge cable as he fell into the depths. Soon he rose, hauling him¬ 
self hand over hand, the waves brushing his face, and sometimes rising 
over his head, until it seemed as if he scarcely would be able to breathe; 
hut by jerking his body occasionally upward with a desperate effort, he 
so managed to survive the waves and to approach us, where a dozen 
willing hands were stretched out to snatch the half-smothered man. 
Zaidi next followed, hut after the tremendous proofs he had given of his 
courage and tenacious hold we did not much fear for his safety, and he 
also landed, to be warmly congratulated for his double escape from 
death. Marzouk, the youngest was the last, and we held our breath while 
the gallant boy was struggling out of the fierce grasp of death. While 
yet midway the pressure of water was so great that he lost his hold of 
two cables, at which the men screamed in terror lest he should relax 
his hold altogether from despair; but I shouted harshly to him: 

“ ‘Pull away, you fool. Be a man.’ 

“At which with three hauls he approached within reach of our will¬ 
ing hands, to be embraced and applauded by all. The cheers we gave 


356 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


were so loud and hearty that the cannibal Wane-Mukwa must have 
known, despite the roar of the waters, that we had passed through a 
great and thrilling scene.” 

SHOUTS OF DEFIANCE AND THREATS. 

We need not follow them through their almost daily encounters with 
the hostile natives, many of whom were cannibals; some of them were 
driven off, others were glad to make friends with the white men and 
their followers. They arrived at the mouth of the Aruwimi, February 
1. At this point in the river, they had seen many canoes. Stanley con¬ 
tinues : 

“We heard shouts of defiance or threats, we knew not which—we had 
become indifferent to the incessant noise and continued fury. * * 

As soon as we have fairly entered the waters [of the Aruwimi] we see a 
great concourse of canoes hovering about some islets which stud the mid¬ 
dle of the stream. The canoe-men, standing up, give a loud shout as 
they discern us, and blow their horns louder than ever. We pull briskly 
on to gain the right bank, and come in view of the right branch of the 
affluent, when, looking up stream, we see a sight that sends the blood 
tingling through every nerve and fiber of the body, arouses not only our 
lively interest, but also our most lively apprehensions—a flotilla of 
gigantic canoes bearing down upon us, which both in size and numbers 
eclipse anything encountered hitherto! Instead of aiming for the right 
bank, we form in line, and keep straight down the river, the boat taking 
position behind. Yet after a moment’s reflection, as I note the numbers 
of the savages, and the daring manner of the pursuit, and the apparent 
desire of our canoes to abandon the steady compact line, I give the order 
to drop anchor. Four of our canoes affect not to listen, until I chase 
them, and threaten them with my guns. This compelled them to return 
to the line, which is formed of eleven double canoes, anchored ten yards 
apart. The boat moves up to the front, and takes position fifty yards 
above them. The shields are next lifted by the non-combatants, men, 
women, and children in the bows, and along the outer lines, as well as 
astern, and from behind these the muskets and rifles are aimed. 

“We have sufficient time to take a view of the mighty force bearing 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


357 


down on us, and to count the number of the war-vessels which have been 
collected from the Livingstone and its great affluent. There are fifty- 
four of them! A monster canoe leads the way, with two rows of up¬ 
standing paddles, forty men on a side, their bodies bending and swaying 
in unison as with a swelling barbarous chorus they drive her down 
toward us. In the bow, standing on what appears to be a platform, are 
ten prime young warriors, their heads gay with feathers of the parrot 
crimson and gray; at the stern, eight men with long paddles whose tops 
are decorated with ivory balls, guide the monster vessel; and dancing up 
and down from stem to stern are eight men who appear to be chiefs. 
All the paddles are headed with ivory balls, every head bears a feather 
crown, every arm shows gleaming white armlets. From the bow of the 
canoe streams a thick fringe of the long white fiber of the Hyphene palm. 
The crashing sound of large drums, a hundred blasts from ivory horns, 
and a thrilling chant from two thousand human throats, do not tend to 
soothe our nerves or to increase our confidence. However, it is neck or 
nothing. "We have no time to pray, or to take a sentimental look at the 
savage world, or even to breathe a sad farewell to it. So many other 
things have to be done speedily and well. 

“As the foremost canoe comes rushing down, and the consorts on 
either side beating the water into foam, and raising their jets of water 
with their sharp prows, I turn to take a last look at our people, and say 
to them: 

“ ‘Boys, be firm as iron; wait until you see the first spear, and then 
take aim. Don’t fire all at once, keep aiming until you are sure of your 
man. Don’t think of running away, for only your guns can save you.’ 

“Frank is with the Ocean on the right flank, and has a choice crew, 
and a good bulwark of black wooden shields. Manwa Sera has the Lon¬ 
don Town—which he has taken charge of instead of the Glasgow—on 
the left flank, the sides of the canoe bristling with guns, in the hands of 
tolerably steady men. 

A MONSTER CANOE MANNED WITH WARRIORS. 

“The monster canoe aims straight for my boat, as though it would 
run us down; but when within fifty yards swerves aside, and when nearly 


358 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


opposite, the warriors above the manned prow let fly their spears, and 
on either side there is a noise of rushing bodies. But every sound is soon 
lost in the ripping and crackling of musketry. For five minutes we are 
so absorbed in firing that we can take note of nothing else; but at the 
end of that time we are made aware that the enemy is re-forming about 
two hundred yards above us. 

“Our blood is now up. It is a murderous world, and we feel for the 
first time that we hate the filthy, vulturous ghouls that inhabit it. We 
therefore lift our anchors, and pursue them up stream along the right 
bank, until rounding a point we see their villages. We make straight for 
the banks, and continue the fight in the village streets with those who 
have landed, hunt them out into the woods, and there only sound the 
retreat, having returned the daring cannibals the compliment of a 
visit.” 

Still floating down the river, they came to the country of the Ban- 
gala February 14. Stanley had some hopes of conciliating this tribe 
by means of gifts, as they were somewhat accustomed to the visits of 
the traders; for the travelers were now indeed approaching the por¬ 
tion of the river which was known to the merchants. Let us see how 
these efforts to make friends succeeded: 

“We had left Observation Island about half a mile behind us when 
the prows of many canoes were seen to emerge out of the creek. I stood 
up and edged toward them, holding a long piece of red cloth in one hand 
and a coil of brass wire in another. We rested on our oars, and the 
men quietly placed their paddles in the canoe, and sat up, watchful, 
and ready for contingencies. As we floated down, numbers of canoes 
advanced. 

“I hailed the natives, who were the most brilliantly decorated of 
any that I had seen. * * * The natives returned no answer to my 
hail; still I persisted. I observed three or four canoes approaching 
Frank’s vessel with a most suspicious air about them, and several 
of their canoes menacing him, at which Frank stood up and menaced 
them with his weapon. I thought the act premature, and ordered him 
to sit down and look away from them. I again raised the crimson cloth 
and wire, and by pantomime offered to give it to those in front, whom 



outrage there was no effort made to secure peace. The shields were 
lifted, and proved capital defenses against the hail of slugs. Boats, 
shields and canoes were pitted, but only a few shields were perforated. 

“The conflict began in earnest, and lasted so long that ammunition 
had to be redistributed. We perceived that, as the conflict continued, 
every village sent out its quota. * * * At three o’clock, I counted 


THE BUSH HOG. 


'STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 359 


I was previously addressing; but almost immediately those natives who 
had threatened Frank fired into my boat, wounding three of my young 
crew, and two more natives fired into Frank’s canoe, wounding two. The 
missiles fired into us were jagged pieces of iron and coppor precisely 
similar to those which the Ashantees employed. After this murderous 













3 GO 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


sixty-three canoes opposed to us. * * * And, allowing five guns on 
an average to each of the sixty-three canoes, there were three hundred 
and fifteen muskets opposed to our forty-four. Their mistake was in 
supposing their slugs to have the same penetrative power and loug 
range as our missiles had. * * * After the departure of the wounded 
chief to the shore, the firing became desultory, and at 5:30 P. M. our 
antagonists retired, leaving us to attend to our wounded, and to give 
three hearty cheers at our success. This was our thirty-first fight on 
the terrible river—that last but one—and certainly the most determined 
conflict that we had endured.” 

Stanley's thirty-second fight with savages. 

The thirty-second fight took place March 9, a band of savages at¬ 
tacking them just as they were preparing breakfast; fourteen men 
were wounded before the savages were repulsed, but none were killed. 

March 11, they arrived at a widening of the river into a lake-like 
expanse, which the leader, at the suggestion of his lieutenant, named 
Stanley Pool. Although their struggles with the natives were now at 
an end, having reached a point where they were more accessible to 
trade, the travelers found that they were by no means safe from dangers 
by river. Just below that expansion of the stream which was thus chris¬ 
tened, are the cataracts now known as Livingstone Falls; and here new 
trials awaited them. 

Passing several bad pieces of river, they had reached a point just 
below the Cauldron, and Stanley was superintending arrangements for 
a camp on the hard white sand of the river-bank. Glancing up, to his 
horror he caw the Crocodile, one of the canoes, in mid-river, far below 
the point which they had rounded, gliding with the speed of an arrow 
toward the falls over the treacherous calm water. Human strength 
availed nothing; he could but watch the vessel as she darted over the 
fall, bearing with her his boy Kalulu and four others. They saw it 
whirled round three or four times, then plunged down into the depths; 
out of which the stern presently emerged pointed upward; and then they 
knew that Kalulu and his canoe-mates were no more. 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


361 


A second canoe darted by the horrified spectators, but almost by a 
miracle shot over the falls, and was brought to land below, the two 
men in its escaping harm. A third canoe darted past them, having but 
one man in it; but was less fortunate than the others, and was whirled 
down to instant death. 

In remembrance of the victim who had been most intimately con¬ 
nected with the leader, his body-servant Kalulu, the cataract was named 
Kalulu Falls. But Stanley himself was not to escape danger from 
the violence of the river. He had devised a means of descending the 
river in safety even in the midst of rapids, by means of cables of cane; 
but the impediments were greater at this point than they had ever 
been before, and by a careless slacking of the stern cable, the current 
swept the boat from the hands of that portion of the crew whose duty it 
was to lower her cautiously down the fall, to the narrow line of ebb- 
flood below the rocky projection. It was useless to direct the men; for 
the human voice was drowned in the roar of the mad waters; oars were 
only useful to assist the helm, for they were flying with terrific speed 
past the series of boulders which strangled the river. 

‘‘After two miles we were abreast of the bay or indentation at which 
we had hoped to camp, but the strong river mocked our efforts to gain 
it. The flood was resolved we should taste the bitterness of death. A 
sudden rumbling noise, like the deadened sound of an earthquake, 
caused us to look below, and we saw the river heaved bodily upward,, 
as though a volcano was about to belch around us. Up to the summit 
of this watery mound we were impelled; and then divining what was 
about to take place, I shouted out: 

“ ‘Pull, men, for your lives!’ 

“A few frantic strokes drove us to the lower side of the mound, 
and before it had finished subsiding, and had begun its usual fatal cir¬ 
cling, we were precipitated over a small fall, and sweeping down to¬ 
ward the inlet into which the Nkenke cataract tumbled, below the lowest 
line of the Lady Alice rapids. Once or twice we were flung scornfully 
aside, and spun around contemptuously, as though we were to insigni¬ 
ficant to-be wrecked; then availing ourselves of a calm moment, we re- 


362 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


sumed our oars, and soon entering the ebb-tide, rowed up river and 
reached the sandy beach at the junction of the Nkenke with the Living¬ 
stone.” 

FRANK POCOCK's DEATH. 

June 3, Stanley left the camp at Mowa to proceed to Zinga, in order 
to establish a camp at the latter place; the boats were then to be trans¬ 
ported overland, since the river would not allow of a voyage between 
these two points. Frank Pocock was left behind, for the time, until 
the leader should send men back with a hammock to carry him for¬ 
ward, for he was suffering so much with ulcers on both feet that he was 
quite lame. The shoes of both had given out, though Stanley man¬ 
aged to keep his, tattered and slit as they were, upon his feet; and 
the slightest wound from the roughness of the road is liable in that 
climate to be poisoned by the bite of the insects. But Pocock was im¬ 
patient, and insisted upon being taken in a canoe which Uledi had been 
ordered to proceed with. In vain the faithful servitor argued that it 
was not safe for them to go by river; the young Englishman, a water¬ 
man by training, laughed at his fears, and declared it was but cowardice 
which made him and his comrades hesitate. The boatmen were at last 
goaded by these taunts to undertake that which their better judgment 
told them was simply fool-hardy. 

“In a few seconds they had entered the river; and in obedience 
to Frank, Uledi steered his craft for the left side of the river. But it 
soon became clear that they could not reach it. There was a greasy 
slipperiness about the water that was delusive, and it was irresistibly 
bearing them broadside over the falls; and observing this, Uledi turned 
the prow, and boldly bore down for the center. Boused from his seat 
by the increasing thunder of the fearful waters, Frank rose to his 
feet, and looked over the heads of those in front, and now the full dan¬ 
ger of his situation burst upon him. But too late! They had reached 
the fall, and plunged headlong amid the waves and spray. The angry 
waters rose, and leaped into their vessel, spun them round as though on 
a pivot, and so down over the curling, dancing, leaping crests they were 
borne, to the whirlpools that yawned below. Ah! then came the mo¬ 
ment of anguish, regret and terror! 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH 


363 



THE DOG-HEADED THYLOEINUS. 


“ ‘Hold on to the canoe, my men; seize a rope, each one,’ said he, 
while tearing his flannel shirt away. Before he could prepare himself, 
the canoe was drawn down into the abyss, and the whirling, flying waters 
closed over all. When the vacuum was filled, a great body of water was 
belched upward, and the canoe was disgorged into the bright sun¬ 
light, with several gasping men clinging to it. When they had drifted 
a little distance away from the scene, and had collected their facul¬ 
ties, they found that there were only eight of them alive; and alas for 
us who were left to bewail his sudden doom, there was no white face 









































364 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


among them. But presently, close to them another commotion, another 
heaving and belching of waters, and out of them the insensible form of 
the ‘little master’ appeared, and they heard a loud moan from him. 
Then Uledi, forgetting his late escape from the whirling pit, flung out 
his arms and struck gallantly toward him, but another pool sucked them 
both in, and the waves closed over him before he could reach him; and 
for the second time the brave coxswain emerged, faint and weary—but 
Frank Pocock was seen no more.” 

This was not the last of Stanley’s troubles; many of his men, see¬ 
ing no apparent hope of reaching smoother waters or a less difficult 
road, declared that they would go no further; and more than thirty 
of them actually set out on their journey back. They were, however, 
persuaded to return; not only by those who remained faithful to him, 
but by the determination of the natives to help none of those who had 
deserted their white master. 

He had thought it slow traveling when, from the 16th of March to 
the 21st of April inclusive, a period of thirty-seven days, the expedition 
had made but thirty-four miles’ progress; but it required thirty days to 
transport the expedition from Mowa to Zinga, a distance of three miles; 
and four men had been drowned during that time. 

Late in July they reached the Yellala. Here the boats were aban¬ 
doned, even the Lady Alice being left to bleach and rot on the shores 
of the mighty river; and everything not absolutely necessary being 
given to the men to buy food, the worn and weary and sadly diminished 
expedition set out on the way to the coast, five or six days off. 

STARVATION AND SICKNESS. 

They were literally starving men, for the food which they were 
able to obtain from the natives was small in quantity and poor in qual¬ 
ity. Nearly forty of them were sick, with dysentery, ulcers, or scurvy; 
they had no fear of death left, and no hope of life; they dragged them¬ 
selves wearily onward, not knowing who would be the next to fall, 
only sure that none of them would again reach their home. 

And what of the leader? He had shared all their trials; he was 
hungry and weary and footsore and lieartsore as they were; he had seen 


STANLEY'S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


365 


the last companion of his own race swept away by the remorseless 
Congo, it was on him that the responsibility of the whole expedition 
rested; but the indomitable spirit which was lacking in the “untutored 
mind” of the black men bore him up and gave him strength to utter 
words of encouragement to them. 

They arrived at the village of Nsanda August 4; the chief seemed 
kindly and pleasant. He informed the new-comer that he had fre¬ 
quently been to Boma, that he carried ground-nuts there and exchanged 
them for rum. Suddenly Stanley asked him if he would carry a let¬ 
ter to Boma, and allow three men of the expedition to accompany him. 
He promised to send two of his young men, and Stanley wrote his 
letter—an appeal “To any Gentleman who speaks English at Embom- 
ma” for such help as was needed—food for immediate use, and cloth 
with which to purchase further supplies. Uledi, Kacheche, and two 
others, one of whom was a pupil of the Universities’ Mission at Zan- 
zibar, and was to act as interpreter, volunteered for the journey; and 
two guides were furnished by the chief. 

The expedition marched on more slowly, finding it impossible to 
procure food where they were; “Wait for the market days,” they 
were told. Two days later, while they were encamped near Banza 
Mbuko, and Stanley was thoroughly sick at heart because of the dis¬ 
tress of his starving people, the messengers returned, bringing with 
them rice, sweet potatoes and fish in generous quantities for all hands, 
and rum and tobacco in smaller quantities, to be dealt out by the master; 
with such luxuries as wheaten bread, butter, tea, coffee, loaf-sugar, 
jam, sardines, salmon, plum-pudding, ale, sherry, port and champagne 
for the white man who had left all these behind him three years be¬ 
fore. 


GREETING THE VAN OF CIVILIZATION. 

Messengers were dispatched bearing the hearty thanks of the now 
well-fed men, and then the main body again took up the line of march. 
August 9, 1877, they prepared to greet the “van of civilization,” the 
999th day after their departure from Zanzibar. Of the welcome which 
there awaited him at the hands of those who had so promptly and 


366 


STANLEY’S TRIUMPHANT MARCH. 


generously responded to his appeal, we need not speak; our story draws 
to a close as the gaunt and way-worn men descend the slope toward the 
white town of Boma, and start with surprise as they see a steamer an¬ 
chored in the broad brown river. 

Here they remained two days; and then proceeded down the river on 
this steamer to Kabinda. The sickness of many members of the ex¬ 
pedition detained Stanley here for some time, as he was anxious to 
see all his men off to Zanzibar before sailing for Europe; but at last 
he was free to return, and though he chose to accompany the members 
of the expedition as far as the Cape of Good Hope on their return 
journey, he was still eagerly looking forward to the home-coming. Yet 
even at this time he was not unmindful of the feelings of his followers; 
he saw that they were sorrowful, and guessed the reason; they ac¬ 
knowledged that it was so, that they hearts were heavy because he was 
about to leave them while they were still far from their homes; and 
he resolved to accompany them on the voyage from Cape Town to Zan*- 
zibar. November 26, they arrived at the end of their return journey; 
and December 13, having paid off all his men and also what was due to 
the surviving relatives of those who had not returned, Stanley em¬ 
barked for England. A journey through the Dark Continent, was, for 
the first time in the history of the world, an accomplished fact. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 

The Sources of the Nile Still Undiscovered—Immense Mountain Ranges—Endless Primeval 
Forests— A Grand Spectacle—Great Variety of Tropical Trees—Beautiful Lakes and 
Fascinating Landscapes—Africa Still the Field for Ambitious Discoverers—Early Ex¬ 
plorations. 

L ARGE areas of the Dark Continent, where Roosevelt now is add¬ 
ing new laurels to his glorious career, are still never seen by any 
white man. And wonderful enough the sources of the famous 
river Nile, Egypt’s fertilizer, which has been known and navigated 
for thousands of years, are still undiscovered. Many bold and enter¬ 
prising travelers have from time to time attempted to solve this inter¬ 
esting problem, but like the North Pole the Nile has eluded their ef¬ 
forts and still is hiding his hoary head somewhere in the sands of un¬ 
approachable deserts; or may be in some cave of the mysterious and 
weird rocks so vividly described by Rider Haggard in his grotesque 
novel' “ She.” 

While many recent explorers have sailed far up the Nile and thus 
been approaching what may be called its sources, still neither Ameri¬ 
cans, nor Englishmen, nor Germans nor Belgians have succeeded to 
quench their thirst in its remotest source somewhere in the Moon moun¬ 
tains. 

This is, so to say, the last problem in African geography which is 
yet unsolved. The continent has been traversed from south to north 
and from east to west and in all possible directions; two tribes of 
Pygmies have reached Europe and America from their fabulous haunts 
in the endless forests; the mountain peaks Kilimanjaro, Kenia and 
Ruwenzori have been scaled; the large primeval forest has been tra¬ 
versed; the last great inland lake is found; but no one has as yet 
cleared up the mystery of the Nile. It still remains as stubborn as the 


367 


368 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


mute Sphinx oil its sandy shores. Who is going to solve this problem? 
Is Roosevelt going to have something to say about it? Who knows? 

There are four main routes along which the Nile’s sources might 
be reached. One is the route from Cairo to the lake. It is a magnifi¬ 
cent route, leading through a marvellous tropical country, but it is too 


* 



THE PECCARY. 


long and slow as the traveler has to proceed by steamboat on the Nile. 
Then there is another route in the opposite direction from the lake to 
Cairo, less slow but not so full of adventures and game. The route 
through Mataeri and the mouth of the Congo river is also slow and 
tedious, as it takes several months to reach the interior of the country 
along this gigantic river. 

The best route is no doubt through the Suez Canal to Mombasa, then 




















WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


369 


along the Uganda Railway to Nairobi and the great lakes, where Roose¬ 
velt began his hunting expedition, then farther down along the Aru- 
wimi to the Stanley Falls and down the Congo river to the Atlantic. 
This is no doubt the shortest and most convenient route, as the traveler 
can go by rail or steamboat the greater part of the way, with the ex- 



EMIN PASHA (DK. E. SCHNOTZER). 


ception of 700 miles, and will be brought within a distance of only 
200 miles from the upper Nile. 

Along this route you can cross Africa from ocean to ocean in four 
months spending one month in hunting, one month on the Nile and Lake 
Tanganyika, and the two remaining months on the journey from coast 
to coast. This gives the traveler a fair idea of African colonization, 
for he passes through both British and German East Africa, Rhodesia, 
French and Belgian Congo and Portuguese West Africa. By no other 














370 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


route can you get a chance to visit so many European colonies in so 
short a time. There you also meet the richest hunting grounds in the 
world. Vegetation in this part of Africa is extraordinary luxuriant 
and varying from the fertile coast at Mombasa and Bangala to the snow- 
clad peaks of Ruwenzori, you pass through landscapes of wonderful 
beauty and a peculiar character. 

Another advantage in taking this route is the insight it gives into 
the commercial and industrial resources of Africa. You get an oppor¬ 
tunity to study the rubber and ivory trade at close range, and to get 
an idea of the immense and untold wealth hidden in the large tropical 
forests and the endless prairies and mountains. 

You sail through the straits of Babelmandeb to Zanzibar. This 
was the starting point for two of Stanley’s great expeditions, and here 
the third one ended. Here Emin Pasha fell from a window and came 
pretty near breaking his neck after having emptied too many champagne 
bottles at Major Wissmann’s dinner. Here the slave-trade flourished 
for a thousand years. And from Mombasa Roosevelt started out on 
his famous hunting and scientific expedition, which has enriched our 
store of knowledge of tropical Africa more than any previous explora¬ 
tion. 

We have already described the wonderful tropical scenery, the mar¬ 
vellous plant and animal world along the Uganda Railway up to Vic¬ 
toria Nyanza. The lake lies 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 
rainfall in this trojhcal region is 47 inches a year. On the other side 
of the lake the route is continued across undulating highlands and 
mountains, which form the very backbone of the great continent as far 
as the Albert Nyanza. Then the traveler has before him a wild and 
difficult road to the sources of Aruwimi and then follows this river 400 
miles until it joins with the Congo. From this point it is still 1,000 
miles to Stanley Pool, where the majestic Crystal Mountains tower 
high up above the clouds. Here you can take the railroad for 350 
miles to Miadi, where the ocean steamers land, 150 miles from the 
mouth of the river. 

In giving these distances we have not taken in consideration the 
many windings of the river and the road, and when the traveler ar- 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


371 


rives at the coast he will surely have covered not less than 3,000 miles, 
though in a straight line it would be 400 miles less. 

The highest point on the route is Ruwenzori, about 20,000 feet above 
the level of the sea. The highlands which extend from the eastern slope 
of the mountain ranges to the Aruwimi prairies are about 700 miles 
wide. This mountain range is a continuation of the immense chain 
of mountains which extends from the northeastern corner of Europe to 
the Cape. It begins with the Ural or Caucasus, continues through 
Asia Minor, with Mount Ararat, Lebanon and Sinai, through Abys¬ 
sinia and south through Central Africa to the Cape, where it meets the 
southern branch of the western mountain chain. 

The Crystal mountains again are a continuation of the gigantic 
chain of mountains which begins in the Scandinavian peninsula and 
stretches southward through Germany over the Alps and Apennines. 
It again appears in the Atlas and Congo mountains and at last ends in 
the Cape. These huge mountain chains form a gigantic V on the sur¬ 
face of the earth with the angle in the Cape and the wings in the 
northern corners of Europe. 

Through Central Africa along the Equator runs an immense un¬ 
broken and continuous primeval forest large enough to cover California 
and full of interesting objects for the student of natural history. Among 
the trees growing here are the acacia, the mahogany, several varieties 
of palms, mimosas, laurels. Here we find the convolvulus, an im¬ 
mense parasite which climbs the giant trunks and kills them in its 
treacherous embrace. Here grow many varieties of the bamboo, and 
other gigantic reeds, and the bottomless marshes are overgrown with 
water-lilies and orchids. 

The vegetation is most luxurious during the rainy season, but the 
scenery varies much less than in the temperate zones. Between the 
giant trees are groves of bushes and clustering undergrowth broken 
by fields of grass or impenetrable shrubbery. The fan palms are clus¬ 
tered together in groves and in the marshes grows the prickly date. 
There are also the fig trees, among whom the sycamores are the most 
remarkable, and the large-leaved tamarinds. In the interior of these 
primeval forests temple-like corridors lie veiled in eternal shadow and 


372 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


are spanned by dense roofs of foliage, rising vault above vault, 
the galleries appearing like an impenetrable wall of vari-colored 
foliage, through which the avenues open out in every direction, while 
the murmuring voice of springs and running streams fills the air. The 
average height of the leafy roof measures from 75 to 100 feet, but 
seen from without the galleries by no means make the imposing im¬ 
pression we would expect for the elevation or depression of the ground 
takes away some of the effect. Gigantic tree trunks, thickly overgrown 
with wild pepper, rise from the depths and support wide-spreading 
branches draped with lichens and vines, while other tree stems, long 
since dead and decaying, serve as supports for colossal vines and form 
impenetrable bowers, large as houses, within whose walls reigns a 
perpetual darkness. The thick greenery, interwoven with the climbing 
parasites, the tangled shrubbery, and the moss-covered mouldering 
trunks, make the advance through these waves of massive vegetation 
anything but easy, while the heavy humid atmosphere, reminding us 
of our greenhouses, and the constant moisture, produced by the ex¬ 
halations of the woods itself makes the traveler gasp for breath and 
wish himself out on the plains again. 

Ants, mosquitoes, the tsetse and other poisonous flies, swarm over 
the ground and fill the air with their buzzing music, while thousands 
of summerbirds chase each other and sport among the branches, and 
the Colibris chase the insects. There are huge Goliashbills, wonder¬ 
ful insects resembling blocks of wood, fishes who dig themselves down 
deep in the mud and can live there for months. Among the birds- we 
note the Pepperbirds, the Cherrybirds, the Heron, the Flamingo, the 
Crane and the Ibis. 

In this forest we also find the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee, the 
highest developed and most intelligent of all animals, and also Pygmies, 
the least developed of all men. These dwarfs occupy a considerable' 
district lying on both sides of the Aruwimi, and nearly midway be¬ 
tween Yambuga and Albert Nyanza. Their average height is certainly 
not more, perhaps less, than three feet in height, while there are as 
many of the exceptionally short that scarcely exceed two feet; a major¬ 
ity of them are slightly under three feet. But though short of stature 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA, 


373 


they are uncommonly muscular and are also very ingenious, peculiarly 
in working iron. Their chief weapons are bows and arrows, the former 
being occasionally made of steel and the latter invariably tipped with 
metal. The Pygmies are fishers and hunters and pursue both callings 
with great success. In hunting the largest game they go in consider- 



THE ORYX. 


able bodies, surrounding such animals as the elephant and literally 
worrying him to death by persistent pursuit and the shooting of hun¬ 
dreds of arrows into it, reminding one of the Lilliputians in Gulliver’s 
travels. They possess considerable quantities of ivory as trophies of 
the hunt, and they manifest no small ingenuity in carving it into fan¬ 
tastic designs for bracelets, anklets, armlets and even necklaces. They 
























































































374 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


wear no beards, have woolly hair, black eyes, thick lips, flat noses and 
large mouths. There is not wanting evidence of their being cannibals. 
Human skulls have often been seen by travelers on poles about their 
villages and in a single instance a fairly well-cured human arm was 
seen hanging to the outside wall of a hut. It bore the appearance of 
having been smoked for a considerable time, but none of the villagers 
could be induced to talk about any of their habits. Even on the lowest 
step of barbarism man seems to be ashamed of his low habits. Still 
traces of a higher instinct are not lacking among them. The domes¬ 
tic ties are evidently very strong and there is no evidence of polyg¬ 
amy. During a short stay at one of the villages a child of one of 
the natives died and Stanley saw the evidences of intense grief which 
the event caused. The mother appeared to be crazed by her sorrow and 
had to be restrained by her friends from committing some desperate 
act. Another woman, probably the grandmother, took the dead body 
upon her lap and poured out a libation of tears and wailings that was 
deeply affecting to behold. Another tribe wears a cow-tail hanging 
from the belt behind, which led to the belief among travelers that they 
had natural tails. 

The fauna of this forest comprises the largest animals such as the 
elephant and the giraffe. The most melodious of all singing birds, the 
nightingale, spends his winters here. Here also we find the redbreasted 
and gray parrot and some of the most poisonous and largest snakes 
as the python. It is a land of wonder and surprise. 

Some peculiarities of this fauna deserve to be noticed. The gorilla 
is found only in the western part of this territory, along the Atlan¬ 
tic coast, but has never yet been seen south of the Congo River; the 
giraffe is never seen west of Loulaba, hardly west of the whole moun¬ 
tain range from Ruwenzori; the rhinoceros lives mostly in south and 
east Africa ; the zebra does not appear west of Loulaba. It looks as 
if many of the central-African beasts were confined within certain 
boundaries, outside of which they never venture. A plausible reason 
for this is that once an immense lake has covered the present Congo 
valley, Sudan and very likely also Sahara. This lake formed an un- 
surmountable dividing line between east and west Africa, thus pre- 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 375 

venting the animals on both sides to mix and cross. Not until the 
lake was drained began the crossing process, which is still going on and 
will gradually change the African animal world, unless European and 
American hunters prevent it by exterminating it. This explanation, 
however, is not entirely satisfactory. It does not explain why the 
gorilla dwells in west Africa while the Chimpanzee is spread all over 
eastern Africa and so on. 



FACE OF THE GORILLA. 


The traveler through these regions will often be reminded of many 
dramatic incidents in modern history. Most of the great African ex¬ 
plorers have made Zanzibar their starting point. Burton and Speke 
started from there on their journey to Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza, 
and to Zanzibar the body of David Livingstone was taken, when the 
heroic discoverer had died. And then there is the road from Victoria 
to Albert Nyanza, along which Stanley undertook his celebrated ex¬ 
pedition for the relief of Enim Pasha. And then the long voyage down 
the river. But where Stanley and his followers once had to cut their 
way through the impenetrable forests and fight with desperate savages 
for months we now pass in a few days on a comfortable steamer or by 
railroad. 





376 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


The most tempting diversions during this long journey are hunting 
elephants in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro, or antelopes and other big 
game around the sources of Athia in Kikuegu, or lions near Tan¬ 
ganyika, or champanzees in the forests along Aruwimi or Congo. Along 
Aruwimi one will meet with the Pygmies. 

One of the most necessary reforms in Africa is protection of its 
big game. There are laws enough enacted for this purpose, but they 
cannot be enforced and the process of extermination is ruthlessly going 
on, and in a not far distant future this wonderful animal world will 
have passed into history, and be seen only in our museums and zoologi¬ 
cal gardens. And the Dark Continent is yet crying for other still more 
pressing reforms. Nominally the slave trade is abolished, and the 
shameful export of human beings is stopped. But in Africa itself 
this nefarious traffic is just as flourishing as ever. The Africans * 
themselves keep slaves. And to liberate these bondsmen is no easy 
task. 

The expenses for a journey through the vast territory we have 
described are of course considerable. It is estimated that five white 
men with one hundred porters and helpers can accomplish it for $10,- 
000, if it does not take longer than six months. 

BRUCE IX SEARCH OF THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 

Among the early explorers who more than a century ago risked their 
lives in vain attempts to solve the mystery of the Nile, James Bruce 
takes a conspicuous place. He was an Englishman of scholarly at¬ 
tainments, bold and enterprising. 

The rumor that war was about to be declared between Great Brit¬ 
ain and Spain induced Bruce to offer his services upon an expedition 
of some danger. The offer was under consideration for some time, 
but was not accepted. It paved the way, however, for other missions, 
of not much less danger, and of much greater importance to the world. 
Lord Halifax desired him to go to Barbary, to study the ruins of 
architectural beauty which travelers reported to exist there, and make 
public the infomation so obtained. In the course of the interviews be¬ 
tween them, the subject of exploring the Nile was broached; and Bruce 


l 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 377 

afterward declared that at this instant of his life his heart suggested 
to him ‘ ‘ that this great discovery should either be achieved by me, or 
remain, as it had done for the last two thousand years, a defiance to 
all travelers, and an opprobrium to geography.” 

Shortly after the conversation which prompted this resolve, Bruce 
was appointed British consul at Algiers. Here he remained for two 
years, the intervals between the duties of his troublous office being 
tullv occupied by studies. He learned here, from a venerable Greek 



LONGHORNED GOAT. 


priest, the modern Greek language, which was afterward of great use 
to him in Abyssinia. He also acquired much valuable knowledge of 
surgery. 

Finally succeeding in effecting a recall, for his life at Algiers had 
by no means been all that his fancy had painted it before starting, 
Bruce began the work which the prime minister had suggested—visit¬ 
ing and taking views of the ruins of Barbary. With this end in view, 
he traveled through the greater part of northern Africa; and it was 
three years after he left his consulate before he sailed from Cyprus for 
Egypt, to seek the sources of the Nile. 

Arrived at Cairo, he was fortunately mistaken for a skilled astrol- 













378 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


oger by the all-powerful Coptic secretary of Ali Bey, wlio was at the 
bead of the government. This reputation, together with his skill as a 
physician, obtained him peremptory letters of recommendation from 
the bey to various potentates through whose territories he must pass. 
Thus equipped, he set out from Cairo in December, 1768. 

His progress up the Nile was marked by no misfortune. On the 
contrary, the same knowledge which had served him so well at Cairo 
again came into play at his time of greatest danger, when he was in 
the power of an Arab chief. The chief was ill, and Bruce relieved his 
pain; the Arab could not sufficiently thank him; but pronounced a 
solemn curse on any of his people who should molest the traveler. This 
chief advised him, when he admitted that his object was to reach Abys¬ 
sinia, to return to Kenek, and go thence overland to Kosseir; thence 
to cross the Red Sea to Jiddah, near Mecca, and from that port to sail 
for Abyssinia. Notwithstanding this advice, Bruce continued his jour¬ 
ney until he reached the first cataract, near Assouan; then he returned, 
and followed the old chief’s advice, traveling across the country under 
the protection of a caravan of the adviser’s followers. 

ARRIVES AT ABYSSINIA. 

Bruce spent considerable time in making a survey of the Red Sea; 
and it was not until September, 1769, that he finally anchored in the 
harbor of Massowa, the ancient port of Abyssinia. This country had 
been the goal of Portuguese travels in a previous century. We have 
already seen that rumors of a Christianized country in the heart of 
Africa led the early Portuguese explorers of Guinea to imagine that 
they had at last heard of the location of Prester John; in the sixteenth 
century, missionaries of this nation reached Abyssinia from a dif¬ 
ferent direction. According to tradition, the Abyssinians had been 
converted to Judaism by their sovereign, the Queen of the South who 
visited Solomon; in the fourth century of our era they were converted 
to Christianity. The Portuguese missionaries made strenuous efforts 
to turn them from the Greek Catholic to the Roman Catholic form of 
faith, and for a time seemed to be successful; but they were finally 
compelled to abandon the attempt. For almost seventy years,, there 



WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


379 


had been no communication whatever between this country and Europe. 
Abyssinia seemed almost to have been blotted from the map of the world. 
The immense distance, the climate in which it was situated, the des¬ 
erts which nearly surrounded it, and the barbarous character of the 
tribes which surrounded it, were of themselves enough to deter most 
travelers; and the dangers of the route had not been softened in the 
accounts of the returned unsuccessful missionaries. 

It was with considerable difficulty and after a delay of two months, 
that Bruce escaped the naybe of Massowa, who demanded handsome 
presents in addition to those which the traveler had voluntarily bestowed 
upon him. But having left Mass'owa, and thus escaped the importuni¬ 
ties of the naybe, his delays and difficulties were not by any means at 
an end. The favor of a relative of the naybe warned him against 
taking the easier road, since it might be dangerous; and the rough and 
mountainous pathway which was thus recommended as safer was the 
scene of suffering. But by great address, Bruce succeeded in winning 
the favor of the natives with whom he came in contact; and after a 
journey which occupied ninety-five days, he came in sight of Gondar, 
the capital of Abyssinia, about four hundred miles from Massowa. 

Here he had the good fortune to effect a cure of several persons 
who were suffering with smallpox; among them was a child of Ras 
Michael, the real ruler of the kingdom; for the power of the king was 
but nominal. Much to the dismay of Bruce, the gratitude of these 
persons whose friends he had cured took the form of securing for him 
official appointments about the person of the king; however high the 
honor which they intended to bestow, this proceeding would have put 
an end to his attempts at discovery as effectually as their most de¬ 
termined enmity could have done. 

The country was disturbed at the time by the revolt of Fasil; and 
the roval army marched from, the capital against the rebel. Bruce of 
course accompanied it, though not always with the main body of the 
troops; and it was while on this expedition that he obtained his first 
sight of the Nile, and of one of its magnificent cataracts. This was 
the one which is known as the sixth (in ascending the river) and is 
about sixty miles north of the modern Khartoom. 


380 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


Fasil, alarmed by the strength of the army which had pursued him, 
gave his allegiance to the king; and does not seem to have met with 
any punishment for his rebellion. The royal army returned to Gondar, 
Bruce of course accompanying it. His desire to find the fountains of 



THE MALAYAN TAPIK. 


the Nile had only been whetted by the sight of the river; and he was 
more determined than ever to proceed upon his quest. 

Fasil’s embassadors had heard of the fame of the physician from 
the far country, and besought him for something which would cure a 
cancer on the lip, with which Fasil’s principal general was afflicted. 
They declared that Fasil would be better pleased with a medicine which 
would restore his favorite to health, than with the magnificent appoint- 






























WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


381 


merits which the king lavished upon the repentant rebel. Hearing this 
assertion, Bruce requested that the king would give him the village of 
Geesh, and the source of the Nile; evidently supposing that the latter 
was not far from Gondar. Indeed he asserts distinctly that he had 



THE IBEX. 


been within fifty miles of the head of the river when obliged to return, 
with the rest of the king’s army, to the capital. The request was 
granted, and ratified by a solemn oath from the king; while Fasil’s em¬ 
bassadors undertook that their master should act as his guide. 

But the truce between the king and this powerful rebel was of short 
duration; the very morning after this promise was made, certain prov- 








382 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


inces which had suffered severely from the devastations of the royal 
army on its late march rose against the king; or rather, against his 
chief adviser. It was not for several months, therefore, that Bruce was 
enabled to set out on his journey. 

BEGINNING OF THE EXPEDITION. 

October 28, 1770, he and his party began the undertaking. His 
instruments required six men for their transportation, relieving each 
other at stated intervals. His difficulties, however, were now all in 
his own cause; he was no longer exposed to danger through the quar¬ 
rels of others; he was at last engaged in the actual work of explora¬ 
tion. 

Proceeding on their journey from Lake Tsana, they turned south¬ 
ward ; for it must be remembered that the traveler was in search of the 
source of the Blue Nile, which is sometimes considered the main river. 
They found many peasants flying before FasiPs army, which had been 
put in motion for some reason with which the explorer was not ac¬ 
quainted. Fasil was at Bamba, a small village of miserable huts; and 
thither Bruce went, knowing well that the rebel chieftain could forward 
him in his object. Perhaps it would be well to let Bruce tell the story 
of their first interview in his own words: 

“After announcing myself, I waited about a quarter of an hour 
before I was admitted. Fasil was sitting upon a cushion, with a lion’s 
skin upon it, and another stretched like a carpet before his feet. He 
had a cotton cloth, something like a dirty towel, wrapped about his 
head; his upper cloak or garment was drawn tight about him over his 
neck and shoulders, so as to cover his hands. I bowed, and went for¬ 
ward to kiss one of them, but it was so entangled in the cloth that I 
was obliged to kiss the cloth instead of the hand. This was done, 
either as not expecting I should pay him that compliment (as I cer¬ 
tainly should not have done, being one of the king’s servants, if the 
king had been at Gondar) or else it was intended for a mark of dis¬ 
respect, which was very much of a piece with the rest'of his behavior 
afterward. 

“There was no carpet or cushions in the tent, and only a little 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


383 


straw, as if accidentally, thrown thinly about it. I sat down upon the 
ground, thinking him sick, not knowing what all this meant. He looked 
steadfastly at me, saying, half under his breath: 

“ ‘Endet nawi? bogo nawi?’ 



THE MANKKOOR, 


“Which in Amharic, is: 

‘ 1 ‘ How do you do ? Are you very well ? ’ 

“I made the usual answer: 

“ ‘Well, thank God.’ 

“He again stopped, as for me to speak. There was only one old 
man present, who was sitting on the floor mending a mule’s bridle. I 
took him at first for an attendant; but, observing that a servant, un- 



384 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


covered, held a candle to him, I thought he was one .of liis Galla; but 
then I saw a blue silk thread which he had about his neck, which is a 
badge of Christianity all over Abyssinia, and which a Galla would 
not wear. What he w T as I could not make out; he seemed, however, to 
be a very bad cobbler, and took no notice of us. 

“ ‘I am come,’ said I, ‘by your invitation and the king’s leave, to 
pay my respects to you in your own government, begging that you 
would favor my curiosity so far as to allow me to see the country of 
the Agows and the source of the Abay (or Nile), part of which I have 
seen in Egypt.’ 

“ ‘The source of the Abay!’ exclaimed he, with a pretended sur¬ 
prise ; ‘do you know what you are saying? Why, it is God knows where, 
in the country of the Galla, wild, terrible people. The source of the 
Abay! Are you raving?’ he repeats again; ‘are you to get there, do 
you think, in a twelvemonth or more, or when?’ 

“ ‘Sir,’ said I, ‘the king told me it was near Sacala, and still nearer 
Geesh; both villages of the Agows, and both in your government.’ 

“ ‘And so you know Sacala and Geesh?’ says he, whistling and 
half angry. 

“ ‘I can repeat the names that I hear,’ said I: ‘all Abyssinia knows 
the head of the Nile.’ 

“ ‘Aye,’ says he, imitating my voice and manner, ‘but all Abys¬ 
sinia won’t carry you there, that I promise you.’ 

“ ‘If you are resolved to the contrary,’ said I, ‘they will not. I 
wish you had told the king so in time, then I should not have attempted 
it; it was relying upon you alone that I came so far—confident, that 
if all the rest of Abyssinia could not protect me there, that your word 
singly could do it.’ 

“He now put on a look of more complacency. 

“ ‘Look you, Yagoube,’ says he [Bruce had assumed the name of 
Yagoube, the Arabic form of his own Christian name]; ‘it is true I 
can do it, and, for the king’s sake, who recommended it to me, I would 
do it; but the chief priest, Abba Salama, has sent to me to desire me 
not to let you pass farther; he says it is against the law of the land 



WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


385 


to permit Franks like you to go about the country, and that lie lias 
dreamed something ill will befall me if you go into Maitslia.’ 

“I was as much irritated as I thought it possible for me to be. 

“ ‘So, so,’ said I, ‘the time of priests, prophets, and dreamers is 
coming on again.’ 



THE SAIGA, 


“ ‘I understand you,’ says he, laughing for the first time; ‘I care 
as little for priests as Michael does, and for prophets too; but I would 
have you consider the men of this country are not like yours; a boy 
of these Galla would think nothing of killing a man of your country. 
You white people are all effeminate; you are like so many women; you 
are not fit for going into a province where all is war, and inhabited by 
men, warriors from their cradle.’ ' 









386 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


‘ 1 1 saw he intended to provoke me; and he had succeeded so effec¬ 
tually that I should have died, I believe, if I had not, as impudent as it 
was, told him my mind in reply. 

“ ‘Sir,’ said I, ‘I have passed through many of the most barbarous 
nations in the world; all of them, excepting this clan of yours, have 
some great men among them above using a defenseless stranger ill. 
But the worst and lowest individual among the most uncivilized people 
never treated me as you have done today under your own roof, where 
I have come so far for protection. ’ 

“ ‘How?’ he asked. 

“ ‘You have, in the first place,’ said I, ‘publicly called me Frank, 
the most odious name in this country, and sufficient to occasion me to 
be stoned to death, without farther ceremony, by any set of men, 
wherever I may present myself. By a Frank you mean one of the Rom¬ 
ish religion, to which my nation is as adverse as yours; and again, 
without having ever seen any of my countrymen but myself, you have 
discovered, from that specimen, that we are all cowards and effeminate 
people, like or inferior to your boys and women. Look you, sir: you 
never heard that I gave myself out as more than an ordinary man in 
my own country, far less to be a pattern of what is excellent in it. I 
am no soldier, though I know enough of war to see yours are poor pro¬ 
ficients in that trade. But there aro soldiers, friends and countrymen 
of mine, who would not think it an action to vaunt of that, with five' 
hundred men, they had trampled all your naked savages into dust.’ 

“On this, Fasil made a feigned laugh, and seemed rather to take 
my freedom amiss. It was, doubtless, a passionate and rash speech. 

“ ‘As to myself,’ continued I, ‘unskilled in war as I am, could it 
be now without any farther consequence, let me be but armed in my own 
country-fashion, on horseback as I was yesterday, I should, without 
thinking myself overmatched, fight the two best horsemen you shall 
choose from this your army of famous men, who are warriors from 
their cradle; and if, when the king arrives, you are not returned to your 
duty, and we meet again as we did at Limjour, I will pledge myself, 
with his permission, to put you in mind of this promise, and leave the 
choice of men to your option.’ 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


387 

“This did not make things better. He repeated the word duty after 
me, and would have replied, but my nose burst out in a stream of blood 
and that instant a servant took hold of me by the shoulder to hurry me 
out of the tent. Fasil seemed to be a good deal concerned, for the blood 
streamed out upon my clothes. I returned, then, to my tent, and the blood 
was soon stanched by washing my face with cold water. I sat down 
to recollect myself, and the more I calmed, the more I was dissatisfied 



THE BULOU. 


at being put off my guard; but it is impossible to conceive the provoca¬ 
tion without having proved it. I have felt but too often how much the 
love of our native soil increases by our absence from it; and how jeal¬ 
ous we are of comparisons made to the disadvantage of oitr country¬ 
men by people who, all proper allowances being made, are generally 
not their equals, when they would boast themselves their superiors. I 
will confess farther, in gratification to my critics, that I was from my 
infancy of a sanguine, passionate disposition; very sensible of injuries 
which I had neither provoked nor deserved; but much reflection from 
very early life, continued habits of suffering in long' and dangerous 










































388 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


travels, where nothing but patience would do, had, I flattered myself, 
abundantly, subdued my natural proneness to feel offences which com¬ 
mon sense might teach me I could only revenge upon myself. 

“However, upon farther consulting my own breast, I found there 
was another cause that had co-operated strongly with the former in 
making me lose my temper at that time, which, upon much greater 
provocation, I had never done before. I found now, as I thought, that it 
was decreed decisively that my hopes of arriving at the source of the 
Nile were forever ended; all my trouble, all my exjDense, all my time, 
and all my sufferings for so many years were thrown away, from no 
greater obstacles than the whimsies of one barbarian, whose good inclin¬ 
ations I thought I had long before sufficiently secured; and, what was 
worse, I was now got within less than forty miles of the place I wished 
so much to see; and my hopes were shipwrecked upon the last, as well 
as upon the most unexpected, difficulty, I had to encounter.” 

AX UNTAMED HORSE. 

But Bruce’s fears were without foundation. That night, Fasil sent 
him two lean sheep, and a guard of men to protect him during the 
night. The next morning, twelve horses, saddled and bridled, were 
brought to him by Fasil’s servant, who asked him which he would ride. 
Bruce left the man to select a quiet horse for him, and forthwith mounted 
the one which was offered to him. The animal proved to be wholly un¬ 
tamed; but Bruce managed to keep liis seat, and finally sent him back 
to Fasil as an entirely safe horse to ride. He then mounted his own 
horse, and showed the admiring natives something of his marksman¬ 
ship. 

Fasil was witness, not only of his shooting, hut of his riding; al¬ 
though he protested that he had not sent the wild horse himself; he 
had none, he said, fit for the saddle, except the one which he himself 
rode; but any of his horses, driven before the party, would ensure their 
safety from the attacks of surrounding savages. He again protested 
that he was innocent of any desire to injure the traveler, and assured 
him that the groom who had taken him such a horse was in irons, and 
would he put to death within a few hours. 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


389 


“ ‘Sir,’ replied Bruce, “as this man has attempted my life, it is I 
that should name the punishment.’ 

“ ‘It is very true,’ replied Fasil; ‘take him, Yagouhe, and cut him 
in a thousand pieces, if you please, and give his body to the kites.’ 

“ ‘Are you really sincere in what you say?’ said Bruce; ‘and will 
you have no after excuses?’ ” 



THE BALL ARMADILLO. 


He swore solemnly that he would not. 

“ ‘Then,’ returned the traveler, ‘I am a Christian; the way my re¬ 
ligion teaches me to punish my enemies is by doing good for evil; and 
therefore I keep you to the oath which you have sworn, and desire you 
to set the man at liberty, and put him in the place he held before; for 
he has not been undutiful to you.’ ” 

One of the attendants, turning to Fasil, said, while a murmur of 
approbation ran through the assemblage: 


















































390 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


“Did I not tell you what my brother said about this man? He was 
just the same all through Tigre.” 

Fasil replied in a low tone, which Bruce’s ears barely caught: 

“Aman that behaves as he does may go through any country.” 

In an interview which Bruce afterward had with Fasil, the latter 
promised a guide who was thoroughly acquainted with the country 
through which they were to pass, and who had the additional recommen 
dation of being well known as an attendant of Fasil’s, so that the stran¬ 
ger’s safety would be by this means secured. He then invested Bruce 
with the government of Geesh, in accordance with the king’s grant. 
He also swore seven Galla chiefs to defend Bruce to the utmost if he 
should be attacked, and to see that he wanted for nothing which their 
stores could supply. 

October 31, the party set out. Bruce notes that the Galla chiefs 
paid but little attention to him, although they lavished every possible 
mark of respect upon the saddle horse which Fasil had given him, 
to be led in advance of the party. On the third day after they left the 
camp of Fasil, they came in sight of the mountain of Geesh. The 
long-sought fountains of the Nile were just beyond it. 

But the winding stream must be followed for no little distance be¬ 
fore they could reach this elevation. Nor would the inhabitants permit 
them, when it was necessary to cross the river, to ride across on their 
horses or mules. They insisted that Bruce and his party should take 
off their shoes, and even signified that they would stone those who at¬ 
tempted to wash the dirt from their clothes. Patiently forbearing 
any protest against these suj^erstitious notions, older than the Chris¬ 
tianity which they nominally professed, Bruce endeavored to comply 
with their demands, and restrained his servants who would have re¬ 
turned rudeness for rudeness. 

While the sight of Fasil’s horse prevented any of these half-savage 
natives from attacking the party, it was of disadvantage to them in 
another way. Seeing the sign of the chief’s protection, the inhabitants 
concluded that the party had been sent out for the purpose of collecting 
taxes. The human mind appears to have a natural prejudice against 
the collector of taxes; and in oriental countries, this feeling is not les- 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


391 


sened by the enormity of the imposts exacted. The natives accordingly 
fled from their homes and hid themselves and their portable property; 
so that Bruce was at some trouble to obtain the necessary provisions. 
Following the windings of the constantly lessening stream, they 



THE CAPE ANT EATER. 


journeyed until a little after noon of the fourth day. They had then 
arrived at the summit of a mountain, from which they had a distinct 
view of all the remaining territory of Sacala, the mountain of Geesh, 
and immediately beneath them, the Nile itself, strangely diminished in 
size, and now only a brook that had scarcely water enough to turn a 
mill. The mighty river at this point and at this season was not four 











































































































392 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


yards wide, and barely four inches deep. It ran swiftly over a bottom 
of small stones, with hard black rock appearing among them. A little 
below the point at which Bruce saw it at this time, it is full of incon¬ 
siderable falls; but at this point, it was easy enough to pass. The 
guide pointed out to the traveler the position of the two hillocks of green 
sod where the fountains of the Nile were to be found; and Bruce ran 
down the hill toward the point. 

BRUCE REACHES SUPPOSED SOURCE OF THE NILE. 

He had been cautioned to remove his shoes when approaching the 
spot, since the people about this place were even more bigoted in their 
reverence for the river than those whom the party had before en¬ 
countered ; it was then in the guise of a reverent worshiper that he ap¬ 
proached the spot toward which, for many years, his thoughts had 
been directed. But let him tell his own story of the feeling which in 
this hour of success possessed him: 

‘‘I came to the altar of green turf, which was in the form of an 
altar, apparently the work of art, and I stood in rapture over the prin¬ 
cipal fountain, which rises in the middle of it. 

“It is easier to guess than to describe the situation of my mind 
at that moment—standing in that spot which had baffled the genius, 
industry, and inquiry of both ancients and moderns for the course of 
near three thousand years! Kings had attempted this discovery at 
the head of armies, and each expedition was distinguished from the 
last only by the difference of the numbers that had perished, and 
agreed alone in the disappointment which had uniformly and without 
exception followed them all. Fame, riches, and honor had been held 
out for a series of ages to every individual of these myriads these 
princes commanded, without having produced one man capable of grati¬ 
fying the curiosity of his sovereign, or wiping off this stain upon the 
enterprise and abilities of mankind, or adding this desideratum for the 
encouragement of geography. Though a mere private Briton, I tri¬ 
umphed here, in my own mind, over kings and their armies; and every 
comparison was leading nearer and nearer to presumption, when the 
place itself where I stood, the object of my vainglory, suggested what 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA, 


393 



depressed my short-lived triumph. I was but a few minutes arrived 
at the sources of the Nile, through numberless dangers and suffer¬ 
ings, the least of which would have overwhelmed me but for the con¬ 
tinual goodness and protection of Providence. I was then, however, 
but half through my journey, and all those dangers which I had al- 


THE GEEAT ABMADILLO. 

ready passed awaited me again on my return; I found a despondency 
gaining ground fast upon me, and blasting the crown of laurels I had 
too rashly woven for myself.” 

He soon recovered from this feeling of despondency, in outward 
appearance at least; and drank to the health of the king (George III.)' 
in the waters of the newly discovered fountain. lie remained at Geesh 




















































394 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


four days, making various surveys and astronomical observations. The 
result of about forty observations made at this time places the head¬ 
waters of the Blue Nile in north latitude 10 degrees, 59 minutes, 25 
seconds, and 36 degrees, 55 minutes, 30 seconds east longitude; the 
barometer indicating an elevation of something more than two miles 
above the level of the sea. 

Some slight description of the scene which he had come through such 
difficulties and dangers to behold may not be out of place here. The 
hillock of green sod, wliicli he compares in form to an altar, even if it 
had not been purposely fashioned in that shai^e, is in the midst of a 
small marsh, about twelve feet in diameter, surrounded by a wall 
of sod, at the foot of which is a shallow trench which collects the 
water. In the center of this hillock there is a hole, filled with water, 
which appears perfectly still; there is no appearance whatever of ebul¬ 
lition upon its surface, such as is usual in springs; this hole the traveler 
found by measurement to be about three feet in diameter and six 
feet deep. At the distance of ten feet from this hillock, there is a second 
fountain, eleven inches in diameter and eight feet deep; and at twenty 
feet there is a third fountain, two feet in diameter and six feet deep. 
Both these smaller fountains are surrounded by walls of sod and 
trenches similar to the embankment about the first which the traveler 
saw. The water from all these unites in one stream which, the dis¬ 
coverer calculated, would fill a two-inch pipe. 

In regard to the importance of Bruce’s discovery, there have been 
many things said by those who would wish to lessen his fame. It is 
urged, first, that he was not the first European who had discovered the 
source of the Nile. It is true that the Portuguese Jesuits who, shortly 
after the foundation of their order, went as missionaries to the Greek 
Catholics of Abyssinia, explored the surrounding country with more or 
less thoroughness; one of their number, Paez, had actually visited 
and described in writing this spot, one hundred and fifty years before 
it was seen by Bruce. But this description, which had been written 
originally in Portuguese, had been published only in a Latin translation; 
more than this, it contained such a number of incredible statements that 
the friends of Paez were not anxious that it should be read, lest it cast 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


395 


discredit upon liis reputation for veracity. Thus the knowledge was 
doubly locked up; tlue intelligence may be said never to have reached 
the ear of the public; and certainly the question where the Nile has its 
source was regarded as one which had never been satisfactorily an¬ 
swered. 


NOT THE REAL SOURCE. 

It is also said that the source of the Blue Nile is not the source of 
the Nile; that the White Nile is the larger river, the main stream; and 
that therefore the head-waters of this river should be regarded as the 
true fountains of the Nile. Bruce himself admits that this is true; more 
than this, that were it not for the constantly flowing stream of the White, 
fed by the tropic rains, the waters of the Blue Nile would be lost in the 
desert before they reached Egypt. But, he urges, and others have sup¬ 
ported this opinion, the usage of the surrounding tribes shows that the 
Blue is regarded as the Nile, equally at least with the White. But while 
it cannot be denied that Bruce solved only the easier of the two prob¬ 
lems, and left the more difficult for a later generation, it must be admit¬ 
ted that the fact of his being the pioneer in this portion of the continent 
(if we except the Portuguese, whose history had caused the natives to 
look with enmity upon all white men) gives him equal honor with those 
who have solved the more intricate and difficult question of the source 
of the White Nile. A recent authority, surveying the field of African 
discovery from the vantage-ground of modern knowledge of the Dark 
Continent, declares that Bruce’s journey forms an epoch in the annals 
of discovery. 

The discoverer’s return through Abyssinia was considerably de¬ 
layed by the disturbed state of the country, where, as during the past 
year, intestinal wars were raging. He was further alarmed by the fear 
that the old rule would be enforced, which forbade a stranger to leave 
the country. He could only secure the king’s permission to depart by 
promising to return, as soon as his shattered health would permit, with 
as many of his family as possible, and a full supply of horses and arms. 
As a recognition of the soldierly service which he had rendered, the 
king presented him with a gold chain of one hundred and eighty links, 


396 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


weighing about three pounds and a quarter, a weight equivalent to that 
of $500 and over in gold. 

Notwithstanding this apparent willingness to have him leave the 
country, the king threw many trifling difficulties in the way of his doing 
so; and these circumstances, combined with the troubled state of the 
country to which reference has above been made, prevented his depart¬ 
ure for more than a year after the actual discovery of the sources of the 
Nile. Late in December, 1771, he left Gondar, his route lying through 
Sennaar. The journey thence to Assouan occupied more than eleven 
months; and was performed only by incredible exertions through a coun¬ 
try heated by the nearly direct rays of the sun, and covered with heat- 
reflecting sand. It was more than a year after leaving Gondar that he 
reached Cairo, whence his route home was mere child’s play to the jour¬ 
ney which had preceded. 

BARBAROUS CUSTOMS OF THE ABYSSINIANS. 

Bruce horrified his countrymen by his description of the barbarous 
customs of the Abyssinians, and got roundly scoffed at, for instance, for 
his stories of cutting off steaks from a live cow. Nevertheless, at the 
present day, raw meat feasts are none the less practiced than then. When 
all the guests are assembled, the animals are slaughtered, and within 
three minutes the choicest morsels of raw meat, of the fattest, are 
brought in palpitating for the chief and those of high rank. Long knives 
are handed round to all, and each cuts himself a large piece from the 
part offered him. 

Bruce also described the Abyssinians as never making a new law, as 
with their usual superstition and obstinacy they ascribe to their ancient 
statutes a Divine or sacred authority. Thus, when a case is before the 
judges, they say: “Let us hear w r hat the Fitha Negnst (their law-book) 
says.” It is opened solemnly, and the first passage which can be found 
bearing at all on the subject, is read and acted upon, all other considera¬ 
tions being disregarded. On the occasion of a lawsuit, both parties, ac¬ 
cuser and accused, must find security or be fastened together dur¬ 
ing the continuance of the suit; and afterwards the loser must again give 
security on all the points for which he may be condemned. Also he 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


397 


must band over a certain amount, according to the importance of the 
case, to the judges, who get no other pay beyond the numerous presents 
which they receive on all hands. 

Returned home Bruce was enthusiastically received not only in Eng¬ 
land but in France and Italy as well. His statements, however, were re¬ 
ceived with incredulity, which wounded his sensitive spirit to such an 



THE RUFFED LEMUR. 


extent that he retired to his paternal seat and lived in retirement for 
twelve years, busy with publishing and illustrating his travels. He died 
at the age of sixty-four. 


MUNGO PARK. 

Other early explorers were Sparrman, a Swede, and Le Vail! and, a 
Frenchman, who traveled under the auspices of “The African Society,” 












398 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


which was formed in 1788 by a number of Englishmen interested in the 
advancement of geographical science. The most successful of these 
early explorers was Mungo Park, a young Scotchman, who had been 
educated as a physician and spent two years in preparing himself 
specially for the work. 

He sailed in May, 1795; and reached the mouth of the Gambia in the 
next month. He intended to ascend the Gambia as far as practicable, 
then strike across the country until he should reach the Niger. He was 
attended only by a few negro servants when, early in December, he set 
forth on his quest for the Dark Waters, as the natives still call this long- 
sought river. The first native king whom he met admired his coat so 
much, that it was impossible to avoid offering it as a present; since the 
failure to do so would probably have been the forerunner of a robbery; 
the second, under pretense that he had paid no duties on entering the 
territory, stripped him of all goods which he did not contrive to hide be¬ 
fore the arrival of the customs officials; the third, under the excuse of 
acting as his guide and guard through a wild country, compelled him to 
give, as nominal presents, half of the little that remained to him. Truly 
had it been said, by a yet earlier traveler, that the beggars of Europe 
may learn much, in point of unblushing voracity, from the higher classes 
of savage Africa. 

For a time, the traveler did not meet with any more beggars; per¬ 
haps because he had but little left which could tempt them. He re¬ 
ceived information from a chief who appeared to be friendly, that it 
would be impossible for him to take the direct route to Timbuctoo, as the 
country was then the scene of war. His only alternative was to go by 
way of the Moorish kingdom of Ludamar, a perilous route, which had 
already proved fatal to one explorer, his predecessor, Major Houghton. 

He feared much from the bigotry and barbarity of the Moors; but 
after some delay, succeeded in obtaining a safe conduct to Goombo, a 
place on the frontier of Bambarra. After this he progressed slowly, find¬ 
ing the negroes kind and hospitable, the Moors insulting and thievish. 
Finally, having arrived at Sami, early in March, he was commanded to 
await the coming of a Moorish prince’s favorite wife, who was anxious 
to see what a Christian looked like. 



WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


399 


SUSPICIONS AND INDIGNITIES. 

Transported to tlie capital, Benown, he was compelled to submit to 
many indignities; for the Moors could not be persuaded that a Euro¬ 
pean was neither a locksmith nor a. barber by nature. He suffered, also, 



TIIE AFRICAN WILD BOAR. 

from lack of food and water; for the dry season was on, and his jailers 
feared the supply of drink would run short if they indulged their pris¬ 
oner too freely. 

Thus refreshed, he journeyed on, mounted on the back of the horse 
whose fleetness had enabled him to escape from the Moors. After sev- 




















400 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


eral repulses from the villages where he tried to obtain food, he reached 
a point where he considered himself safe from the Moors; and deter¬ 
mined to rest there for two or three days. 

Pushing onward, his horse soon became so completely worn out that 
he was obliged to lead, instead of riding it; and his own clothes were in 
such a miserable plight, his shoes being entirely gone, that he was the 
subject of jibes from all whom he met. At length, however, he saw ris¬ 
ing before him the smoke of Sego, a town which he knew was on the 
Joliba or Niger River. Spurred on to new exertions by the prospect of 
such near success, he overtook some former fellow-travelers, who had, a 
little while before, distanced him. 

DISCOVERY OF THE NIGER. 

“See the water!” said one of them, shortly afterward, pointing. 
“Looking forward, I saw,” said he, “with infinite pleasure, the great 
object of my mission, the long sought for majestic Niger, glittering in 
the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing 
slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the brink, and having drunk of 
the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler of 
all things, for having thus far crowned my endeavors with success.” 

Having been robbed of all his possessions by the Moors, Park had no 
presents with which to conciliate the court of Sego, and hence met with' 
a very cool reception. He was kindly treated, however, by an old woman 
from whom he asked a night’s shelter; and the king finally gave him a 
bag of cowries, of value sufficient to maintain him and his horse for fifty 
days, and sent him on his way. 

The traveler continued to descend the Niger, halting at Sansanding. 
Here the natives insisted that he should perform his evening devotions 
publicly, and partake of a meal of eggs. The first of these propositions 
he declined, but accepted the second. They brought him a number of 
raw eggs, which they imagined would best please him; hut finding that 
he would not eat them in that condition, his host killed a sheep and pre¬ 
pared him a plentiful supper. On so slight a thread does the explorer’s 
chance of a satisfying meal sometimes hang. 

Park had proceeded hut a short distance from Sansanding, when his 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


401 


faithful horse gave out; and he was obliged to proceed by some other 
means. Covered with blisters, and suffering severely from the stings of 
insects, he resolved to hire a boat and descend the river to Silla. Here 



TBEE-CLIMBING MONKEY. 


he was received very coldly; and learned that at Jenne, the next large 
town, the power was really in the hands of the Moors, whose influence 
would increase as he journeyed eastward. He was told, by many of the 
negroes, that the Moors of that portion of the country were fanatical 




























402 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


and bigoted in the extreme; one of them related that he had entered a 
public inn of that country, when the landlord had spread a mat on the 
floor, saying to him: 

“If you are a Mussulman, you are my friend, sit down on this mat; 
if not, you are my slave, and with this rope will I lead you to market.” 

Alone, without influence or other means of conciliating these people, 
from whose milder brethren he had already suffered much, Park con¬ 
cluded that it would be his wisest course to return, and make known to 
his countrymen the measure of success which he had achieved. This 
was not small; for up to this time, the direction of the Niger had been 
a subject of dispute. It seems that every possible theory had been ad¬ 
vanced by those who had heard that there was a great river in this part 
of Africa. The ancients believed that it flowed into the Nile; the peo¬ 
ple of the middle ages, as we have seen, were under the impression that 
it flowed into the Atlantic Ocean; and their immediate successors, the 
earliest Portuguese and English explorers, identified it with the Sene¬ 
gal or with the Gambia; later writers have confused it with the Congo. 
Park was the first European who followed its course for any considera¬ 
ble distance, and thus determined that its direction was eastward, and 
not westward. 

NEW MISFORTUNES. 

Not all his misfortunes had beset him on his journey toward the 
Niger; some awaited him on his return. He proceeded without more 
than ordinary adventures until he reached the mountainous country 
west of Bammakou; here he was set upon by two men, and robbed of the 
very clothes which he wore; his worst shirt, a pair of trousers and his 
hat being all that was left to him. It was particularly fortunate that the 
robbers did not carry off the last-named article, as he carried his mem¬ 
oranda in the crown of it. 

The articles of which he had been robbed were recovered by the exer¬ 
tions of a chief to whom Park appealed; but this was only after a delay 
of two weeks; and unfortunately, his pocket-compass was broken when 
it was returned to him. On the remainder of his way, he was, on the 
whole, hospitably treated; although the people who were on his route 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


403 


were suffering, to some extent, from famine. He had the good fortune 
to fall in with a caravan, the leader of which assured him it was im¬ 
possible to traverse the country at that season; but offered to support 
him in the meantime, and when the proper time for the journey arrived, 
to conduct him in safety to the settlements. This offer was accepted, 
and the bargain concluded; his guide, on their arrival at Pisania, on the 
Gambia, receiving double the stipulated price. They reached this point 
in June, 1797, just two years after Park had arrived in Africa. The 



THE BROWN CAPUCHIN. 


traveler was so hindered by various circumstances that it was not until 
Christmas day that he reached London, where he was received by his 
friends as one risen from the dead; for fairly well authenticated proofs 
of his death had actually reached them many months before his return, 
and had never been contradicted. 

But the explorer was not content to rest upon his laurels. He was 
ready, at the first intimation that his services were required, to set out 
again. But it had been seen, by this time, that the enterprise of 
private individuals, or even of associations, was not sufficient for the 
success of such great undertakings; nothing could do so well as a 
government expedition. The second expedition of Park was, therefore, 








404 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


undertaken under the auspices of the British government, and was in¬ 
tended to have sailed in 1801. But the war with France, and the con¬ 
sequent agitation of the public mind, delayed the proceedings, so that 
it was not until the latter part of January, 1805, that the party actually 
set out. 


HIS SECOND EXPEDITION. 

Forty-three white men accompanied Park upon this expedition, 
which was provided with a native guide. The leader provided the 
whole party with asses at the Cape Verde Islands; the breed of these 
animals being excellent, and they being well fitted for traversing the 
rugged hills that form the watershed between the Niger and the rivers 
that empty into the Atlantic by a westward course. 

When they were ready to set out from the western coast, it wms evi¬ 
dent that the rainy season could not be far distant; and at this portion 
of the year, travel was beset with many dangers for Europeans. It 
would have been prudent to have remained near the coast until the rains 
were over; but inaction was impossible to Park in his enthusiastic state 
of mind. He insisted on proceeding on his way; and accordingly set out 
from Pisania early in May. 

The iiarty was so strong, that it was not dependent upon the protec¬ 
tion of the petty kings through whose territories they must pass; but 
they no longer had any claim upon the hospitality of these chiefs; and 
were considered as fair prey for the depredations of many who had 
received Park well, when he was alone and friendless. With much ex¬ 
ertion the party reached Sansanding. They had traveled by water a 
great part of the way since reaching the Niger, and had therefore 
avoided some of the fatigue which a journey overland would have occa¬ 
sioned. But there was a danger inseparable from the country at that 
season; the heat and moisture combined proved fatal to nearly all the 
party. Before they reached Sansanding, thirty-nine of the party had 
perished; Park writes that not one of these had died from any accident, 
nor had they had any contest with the natives. One of the five surviv¬ 
ors was deranged by the terrible experiences through which they had 
passed. 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


405 


But the indomitable spirit of the explorer would not yield, even when 
his companions fell thick around him. When his brother-in-law died, 
he wrote: “I then felt myself as if left a second time lonely and friend¬ 
less amid the wilds of Africa.” Nevertheless in the same dispatches 
in which he communicates the lessening of his party, he expresses his 
determination to press onward at all costs; and speaks of the journey 
down the Niger as a journey homeward. He adds: “Though all the 
Europeans who are with me should die, and though I myself were half¬ 
dead, I would still persevere.” 

TRAGIC DEATH OF MUNGO PARK. 

The party purchased three slaves, so that, with the guide, their num¬ 
ber was nine. It would appear that they passed rapidly down the river, 
which was now, in consequence of the heavy rains, in a very favorable 
state for their enterprise. But the king of Yaour, or Yauri, a city more 
than half way between Timbuctoo and the sea, became much offended 
because the white men passed his residence without offering suitable 
presents. He sent a party to pursue them. This party went by land 
and took possession of a pass where rocks hemmed in the river, so that 
there was but a narrow channel. When Park arrived at this place, he 
thought to force his way past the obstruction; but they assailed him 
with darts, stones, pikes, and arrows. He defended himself a long time; 
two of the slaves were killed; the crew threw everything they had into 
the river, and fired constantly at the savage enemy. At last, overcome 
by numbers and fatigue, unable to keep the canoe against the strength 
of the current, Park seized one of his companions, and jumped over¬ 
board. What words were uttered, if any, we know not; but one after 
another of the three survivors followed the example set by these two, 
and all were drowned. The only soul remaining, a slave, stood up in the 
boat and cried for mercy. They took him and the boat to the king; and 
savage revenge was gratified. 

The story is told by the guide, who was found and induced to seek 
for information of those who had seen the party after his own contract 
had been fulfilled, and he had left them to return to the settlements. 
As thus told, it was confirmed by what later travelers heard; for the 


406 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 



THE SQUIBBEL MONKEY, 


journeys of Mungo Park excited almost as much interest in Africa as 
in his own country, and long remained a favorite topic with those 
through whose country he traveled. The very spot where he perished 
has been identified. 

The African Society made several other attempts to explore the in¬ 
terior of Africa; but was uniformly unfortunate. That venture which 






































WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


407 


came nearest to being successful was made by Frederic Hornemann in 
1797-1803. This young man, who was a student of Gottingen Uni¬ 
versity, offered his services to the Society and had them accepted as 
soon as his character was known to them. He proceeded to Egypt, 
where he was detained some time by the "hostility to Europeans which 
had been excited by Bonaparte’s landing in that country. When the 
great French general reached Cairo, he was liberated; and he joined a 
caravan which was setting out for Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. 



HUNTING SCENE IN EAST AFKICA. 


The interest which the British government felt in the exploration of 
Africa was not allowed to languish because the first expedition sent out 
had resulted fatally to all concerned. In 1816, two parties were sent 
out, the one to explore the Niger from the westward, as Park had 
already done, the other to ascend the great river which empties into the 
Atlantic Ocean about six degees south of the equator. We know this as 
the Congo; but although it was called by that name in 1816, it was a well 
understood thing that this was merely a sectional name; that the same 































408 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


stream which the natives inhabiting the country around its mouth called 
the Congo, the people living near its headwaters knew as the Joliba or 
Niger. In short, the British government sent out these two expedi¬ 
tions, that one might descend the Niger, and the other ascend the Congo, 
and meet each other. 

The African Society may be considered to have accomplished its 
object, not indeed by securing for the world a more accurate knowledge 
of the geography of the great southern continent but in having awaken¬ 
ed the interest of the public, and particularly of the representative of 
public opinion, the king’s government. Accordingly, we find it now at¬ 
tracting much less notice than at first; and finally, some forty years 
after its organization, it was merged in the Boyal Geographical Society. 

BARTH AND HIS COMPANIONS. 

Another expedition set out, in 1849, under the leadership of James 
Richardson. Other members of the party were Drs. H. Barth and 
Overweg. Through marshes, jungles and countries inhabited by 
treacherous natives with barbarous habits they had to fight their way 
across an unknown and unhealthy territory. Such pleasing little inci¬ 
dents as the sight of a snake more than eighteen feet long, and nearly 
six inches in diameter, hanging from a tree across their path, ap¬ 
parently ready to seize upon the first prey that presented itself, need 
scarcely be noted. Whatever the white men thought about it, the 
natives regarded it as a god-sencl, for when it had been shot, they cut it 
open and took out the fat, which they pronounced excellent. 

These expeditions opened a glimpse into the richly watered zone of 
the equatorial regions and by reaching Timbuctoo made known a vast 
territory, thus rendering the opening of a regular intercourse between 
Europe and these remote regions possible. 

ANDERSON AND MAGYAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

C. J. Anderson, a Swede, and F. Galton, an Englishman, are two 
other explorers, whose thrilling adventures in South Africa, about the 
middle of the last century held the world spellbound. They partly 
traversed the same territory as Livingstone. Arrived at Ondango they 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


409 


found the country of their tribe such an Elysium as their dreams had 
pictured. “Instead of the eternal jungles, where every moment we 
were in danger of being dragged out of our saddles by the merciless 
thorns, the landscape now presented an apparently boundless field of 
yellow corn, dotted with numerous peaceful homesteads, and bathed in 



Garrett’s galogo. 


the soft light of a declining tropical sun. Here and there rose gigantic, 
wide-spreading, and dark-foliaged timber and fruit-trees, while in¬ 
numerable fan-like palms, either singly or in groups, completed the 
picture.” 

The Ovambos form a marked contrast to some other African tribes 
in being strictly honest; without permission, the natives would not touch 
anything; and the travelers could leave their camp entirely unwatched. 




































410 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 


Nor are they idle; work begins at sunrise and ends at sunset for all. 
There is no pauperism among them, and the aged and helpless are care¬ 
fully tended; in marked contrast to the Damaras, who have a pleasant 
little way of knocking their old people on the head or carrying them 
away into the desert to starve. 

But although exempt from some of the vices of their neighbors, the 
Ovambos are not altogether paragons. Polygamy is practiced to a 



THE GNU. 


great extent, each man having as many wives as he can afford to buy. 
It is interesting to note the quotations in this article of merchandise: a 
poor man could purchase a wife for two oxen and one cow; a rich man 
would be required to pay three oxen and two cows. We are not 
told whether the difference in price was occasioned solely by the dif¬ 
ference in the circumstances of the purchaser, or whether the rich man 
paid for first choice. The king alone was not required to buy his wives; 
and one hundred and six families had considered the honor of the alli¬ 
ance sufficient value received for their daughters. 

















WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


411 


Mr. Galton returned to England after three years’ adventures in the 
wildernesses. But Anderson was not yet ready to give it up. 

KILLING ELEPHANTS AND RHINOCEROSES. 

One of his adventures at a fountain where they halted for a night 
deserves to be here recorded; and who can tell the story as well as 
Anderson himself? 

“Hearing that elephants and rhinoceroses still continued to resort 
to Abeghan, I forthwith proceeded there on the night in question. 
Somewhat incautiously I took up my position—alone, as usual—on a 
narrow neck of land dividing two small pools, the space on either side 
of my skarm [a shallow pit with a barrier of stones in front] being 
only sufficient for a large animal to stand between me and the water. 
I was provided with a blanket and two or three spare guns. 

“It was one of those magnificent tropical moonlight nights when an 
indescribable soft and enchanting light is shed over the slumbering 
landscape; the moon was so bright and clear that I could discern even a 
small animal at a considerable distance. I had just completed my ar- 
. rangements, when a noise that I can liken only to the passage of a train 
of artillery broke the stillness of the air; it evidently came from the 
direction of one of the numerous stony paths, or rather tracks, leading 
to the water, and I imagined that it was caused by some wagons that 
might have crossed the Kalahari. Raising myself partially from my re¬ 
cumbent position, I fixed my eyes steadily on the part of the bush 
whence the strange sounds proceeded, but for some time I was unable 
to make out the cause. All at once, however, the mystery was explained 
by the appearance of an immense elephant, immediately followed by 
others, amounting to eighteen. Their towering forms told me at a 
glance that they were all males. It was a splendid sight to see so many 
huge creatures approaching with a free, sweeping, unsuspecting and 
stately step. The somewhat elevated ground whence they emerged, and 
which gradually sloped toward the water, together with the misty night 
air, gave an increased appearance of bulk and mightiness to their 
naturally giant structures. 

“Crouching down as low as possible in the skarm, I waited with a 


412 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


beating heart and ready rifle the approach of the leading male, who, 
unconscious of peril, was making straight for my hiding-place. The 
position of his body, however, was unfavorable for a shot; and knowing 
from experience that I had little chance of obtaining more than a single 
good one, I waited for an opportunity to fire at his shoulder, which is 



THE COUXIO. 


preferable to any other part when shooting at night. But this chance, 
unfortunately, was not afforded till his enormous bulk towered above 
my head. The consequence was, that while in the act of raising the 
muzzle of my rifle over the skarm, my body caught his eye, and, before 
I could place the piece to my shoulder, he swung himself round, and, 
with trunk elevated and ears spread, desperately charged me. It was 
now too late to think of flight, much less of slaying the savage beast. My 











WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


413 


own life was in imminent jeopardy; and seeing that if I remained par¬ 
tially erect, he would inevitably seize me with his proboscis, I threw my¬ 
self back with some violence, in which position, and without shoulder¬ 
ing the rifle, I fired upward at random toward his chest, uttering at the 
same time tlie most piercing shouts and cries. The change of position, 
in all human probability, saved my life; for at the same instant the 
trunk of the enraged animal descended precisely on the spot where I 
had been previously crouched, sweeping away the stones, many of them 
of a large size, that formed the forepart of my skarm, like so many peb¬ 
bles. In another moment his broad fore feet passed directly over my 
face. 

“I now expected nothing short of being crushed to death. But im¬ 
agine my relief when, instead of renewing the charge he swerved to the 
left, and moved off with considerable rapidity, most happily without 
my having received any other injuries than a few bruises, occasioned by 
the falling of the stones. Immediately after the elephant had left me I 
was on my legs, and snatching up a spare rifle lying at hand, I pointed 
at him as he was retreating, and pulled the trigger; but to my intense 
mortification the piece missed fire. It was a matter of thankfulness to 
me, however, that a similar mishap had not occurred when the animal 
charged; for had my gun not then exploded, nothing, as I conceive, could 
have saved me from destruction. 

“While pondering over my late wonderful escape, I observed, °t a 
little distance, a huge white rhinoceros protrude his ponderous and mis¬ 
shapen head through the bushes, and presently afterward he ap¬ 
proached to within a dozen paces of my ambuscade. His broadside was 
then fully exposed to view, and notwithstanding I still felt a little nerv¬ 
ous from my conflict with the elephant, I lost no time in firing. The 
beast did not at once fall to the ground, hut from appearances I had 
every reason to believe that he would not live very long. Scarcely had 
I reloaded when a black rhinoceros of the species Iveitlea (a female, as 
it proved), stood drinking at the water; but her position, as with the 
elephant in the first instance, was unfavorable for a good shot. As 
however, she was very near me, I thought I was pretty sure of breaking 
her leg and thereby disabling her, and in this I succeeded. My fire 


414 


WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA 



SCENE IN AN EAST AFRICAN FOREST, 















































WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 


415 


seemed to madden her; she rushed wildly forward on three legs, when I 
gave a second shot, though apparently with little or no effect. I felt 
sorry at not being able to end her sufferings at once; but as I was too 
well acquainted with the habits of rhinoceroses to venture on pursuing 
her under the circumstances, I determined to wait patiently for day¬ 
light, and then destroy her with the aid of my dogs. But it was not 
to be. 

“As no more elephants or other large game appeared, I thought, 
after a time, it might be as well to go in search of the white rhinoceros 
previously wounded; I was not long in finding his carcass; for my 
ball, as I supposed, had caused his almost immediate death. 

“In heading back to my skarm, I accidentally took a turn in the 
direction pursued by the black rhinoceros, and by ill-luck, as the event 
proved, at once encountered her. She was still on her legs, but her 
position, as before, was unfavorable. Hoping, however, to make her 
change it for a better, and thus enable me to destroy her at once, I 
took up a stone, and hurled it at her with all my force, when snorting 
horribly, erecting her tail, keeping her head close to the ground, and 
raising clouds of dust by her feet, she rushed at me with fearful fury. 
I had only just time to level my rifle and fire before she was upon me; 
and the next instant, while instinctively turning round for the purpose 
of retreating, she laid me prostrate. The shock was so violent as to 
send my rifle, powder-flask, and ball-pouch, as also my cap, spinning 
in the air; the gun, indeed, as ascertained, to a distance of fully ten 
feet. On the beast charging me, it crossed my mind that, unless gored 
at once by her horn, her impetus would be such (after knocking me down, 
which I took for granted would be the case) as to carry her beyond me, 
and I might thus be afforded a chance of escape. So, indeed, it hap¬ 
pened; for having tumbled me over (in doing which her head and the 
forepart of her body, owing to the violence of the charge, was half 
buried in the sand), and trampled on me with great violence, her fore¬ 
quarter passed over my body. Struggling for life, I seized my oppor¬ 
tunity, and as she was recovering herself for a renewal of the charge, 
I scrambled out from between her hind legs. 

“But the enraged beast had not yet done with me. -Scarcely had 


416 WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA. 

I regained my feet before she struck me down a second time, and with 
her horn ripped up my right thigh (though not very deeply) from near 
the knee to the hip; with her forefeet, moreover, she hit me a terrific 



THE DIADEM INDKIS AND THE WOOLLY INDBIS. 


blow on the left shoulder, near the back of the neck. My ribs bent 
under the enormous weight and pressure, and for a moment I must, 
as I believe, have lost consciousness—I have, at least, very indistinct 
notions of what afterward took place. All I remember is, that when I 


















































WONDERFUL TROPICAL SCENERY IN AFRICA . 


417 


raised my head I heard furious snorting and plunging among the 
neighboring bushes. I now arose, though with great difficulty, and made 
my way, in the best manner I was able, toward a large tree near at 
hand for shelter; but this precaution was needless; the beast, for the 
time at least, showed no inclination further to molest me. Either in 
the melee, or owing to the confusion caused by her wounds, she had lost 
sight of me, or she felt satisfied with the revenge she had taken. Be 
that as it may, I escaped with life, though sadly wounded and severely 
bruised, in which disabled state I had great difficulty in getting back 
to my skarm.” 

Anderson had sent one of his- men, escorted by bushmen, to make 
known his approach to the natives living on the shores of the lake. This 
messenger shortly afterward returned, accompanied by two guides, 
belonging to the Betoana tribe; and the party proceeded through the 
almost impenetrable thorn-forest. On the third day after leaving the 
fountain which had been the scene of the adventure with the elephant 
and the rhinoceros, about noon, the cry of “Ngami! Ngami!” was raised 
by the men at the head of the caravan; and the explorer, looking be¬ 
fore him, saw glimmering in the sunshine, a sheet of water bounded 
only by the horizon. 

The lake was at that season at its lowest stage, and was very shal¬ 
low at the point where it was first seen. Its banks were overgrown 
with a multitude of reeds and rushes, so that, after the first excitement 
of catching a glimpse of it was once over, it was far from seeming an ob¬ 
ject of much admiration. The muddy stretches whence the water had re¬ 
ceded prevented their approaching very nearly to the lake itself; and the 
water, a little of which was obtained by considerable exertion, was very 
bitter and disagreeable. 

Anderson returned to Europe in 1854; he afterwards made several 
other expeditions to Africa and finally settled down as a farmer near 
Indongo, where he died, in 1866. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 


THE MONKEY, AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMAL. 
DU CHAILLU IN THE GORILLA COUNTRY. 

The Gorilla and the Chimpanzee in Their Native Haunts—The Story of the Monkey—“Civil¬ 
ized” Simians—A Tragical Gorilla Hunt—Professor Garner Learns the Monkey Language 
—Habits of African Monkeys—Their Docility—Du Chaillus’ Celebrated Gorilla Hunting— 
“Jimmy” and “Billy” Behave Very Much Like Human Brothers—The Orang-Outang. 

T HE most interesting animals in the country traversed by Roose¬ 
velt are the numerous representatives of the Simian family. 
They resemble man so much both in their bodies and movements 
that we cannot but attach some belief to the many wonderful stories 
that have been told about them from time immemorial, until of late 
natural science has made them the subject of a thorough study. 

The traveler along the Uganda Railroad has a good chance to ob¬ 
serve these curious and inquisitive quadrumana, and they did not 
escape our eagle-eyed ex-President. Already on his trip to Nairobi 
he killed a great number of Colobas monkeys in the Rift Valley which 
is found near Kirjobe, 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. This kind 
of monkeys are very rare and interests us more on account of their beau¬ 
tiful skins and valuable fur, which form ornaments for the ladies and 
articles of commerce in Africa. Though they are tree-climbers and 
active jumpers, and can run very well on all-fours, and, in fact, have 
the same methods of life and of motion as the monkeys winch have well- 
formed thumbs, still they lack this organ, or at least possess it only 
in a “rudimentary” form. 

The proverb “mischievous as a monkey” reveals the estimation 
in which monkeys commonly are held. The more or less human-like 
form, the frequent tendency to assume an upright position, coupled 
with their hand-like feet are amply sufficient to distinguish the group 
to which these animals belong from all others. 


418 


. AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 419 

The peculiar traits of the monkey, which have made this class of 
animals the most interesting to the children and a source of amuse¬ 
ment to their elders, are an interesting study. 

“A neighbor of mine,” says an African traveler, “had a monkey 



GROUP OF APES, MONKEYS AND A LEMUR. 


of which he was very fond and' the little pet used to love to sit on his 
master’s shoulder. It showed, nevertheless, a great dislike to strangers, 
and was not on good terms with any other member of my friend’s 
household. My neighbor had started from home one morning without 
taking the monkey with him, and the little creature having missed its 
friend, and concluded, as it seemed, that he would be sure to come to 





























































420 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 


me, both being in the habit of paying me a daily visit together, came 
straight to my dwelling, taking a short cut over gardens, trees, and 
thickets,-instead of going the roundabout way of the street. It had 
never done this before, and we knew the route it had taken only from 
a neighbor having watched its movements. On arriving at my house. 



BONNET MONKEY. 


and not finding its master, it climbed to the top of my table, and sat 
with an air of quiet resignation waiting for him. He failed to come, 
and after a wait of several hours it returned home. Disappointed 
there it again came to me, and this time its master was there. The lit¬ 
tle creature was overjoyed and clung to him as a child would to its 
mother. 





AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


421 


“When at Victoria Nyanza where I spent a day, I was warned that, 
in passing under a landslip which slopes down to the lake, I should be 
liable to have stones thrown at me by monkeys. Regarding this as 
being possibly a traveler’s tale, I made a particular point of going to 
the spot in order to see what could have given rise to it. As I ap¬ 
proached the base of the landslip on the north side of the lake, I saw a 
number of brown monkeys rush to the sides and across the top of the 
slip, and presently pieces of loosened stone and shale came tumbling 
down near where I stood. I fully satisfied myself that this was not 
merely accidental; for I distinctly saw one monkey industriously, with 
both forepaws, and with obvious malice, pushing the loose shingle off 
a shoulder of rock. I then tried the effect of throwing stones at them, 
and this made them quite angry, and the number of fragments which 
they then set rolling was speedily doubled. This, though it does not 
actually amount to throwing or projecting an object by monkeys as a 
means of offense, comes very near to the same thing, and makes me think 
that there may be truth in the stories of their throwing fruit at peoph 
from trees.” 

“In confinement the monkey is generally docile, good-tempered and 
amenable to instruction. A specimen in a zoological garden was said 
to be a most importunate beggar; but instead of snatching the con¬ 
tributions of his visitors with violence or anger, like the generality of 
monkeys, he solicited them by tumbling, dancing, and a hundred other 
amusing tricks. He was very fond of being caressed, and would ex¬ 
amine the hands of his friends with great gentleness and gravity, 

* 

trying to pick out the little hairs, and all the while expressing his satis¬ 
faction by smacking his lips, and uttering a low surprised grunt. 

Monkeys as a rule travel in bands in the wild state. The herds 
vary in number; some cannot include much less than from two hundred 
and fifty to three hundred monkeys of all ages. The old males usually 
take the lead when the troop is moving; some of them also bringing up 
the rear; others placing themselves on high rocks or bushes, and keep¬ 
ing a sharp lookout after enemies. A troop collected on a rocky crag 
presents a most singular appearance. Whenever they assemble in the 
evening every jutting rock, every little stone more prominent than the 


422 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


rest is occupied by a patriarch of the herd, who sits with gravity and 
watchfulness befitting his grizzled hair, waiting patiently for the march 
to begin anew. The females are mainly occupied in taking care of the 
young; the smaller monkeys amusing themselves by gamboling about. 
Occasionally, if a young monkey becomes too noisy, or interferes with 



YELLOW-TAILED HOWLER AND YOUNG. 


the repose of his seniors, he “catches it” in most unmistakable style, 
and is dismissed with many cuffs, a wiser if not a better monkey. 

Sometimes battles take place among the monkeys in the wild state, 
when it is surprising to witness the rapidity with which they will fol¬ 
low an offender down a stupendous precipice, or from the top of a lofty 
tree; tumbling one after another they descend hundreds of feet in a 












AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


423 


moment or two. The object of the popular wrath sometimes escapes, 
but in this event he is never permitted to return, becoming an exile. 
He often attaches himself to another group or band, where after a s)iort 
probation he is received on good behavior. Should, however, the hap¬ 
less member of the tribe be caught he is punished with death. The 
various troops rarely indulge in pitched battle with other bands, pre¬ 
ferring to turn back in their course when their paths cross. 



HEAD OF THE BLACK LEMUR. 


The member of the simian tribe with his natty red coat and twink¬ 
ling eye who is one-half the stock in trade of the organ grinder has 
been trained to do his part and does it faithfully He is loyal to his 
master. An instance of this was shown when a highly prized monkey 
one day playfully climbed to the roof of his master’s house. All efforts 
to induce him to come down were unavailing. Finally his master 
pointed a gun at him, but quite unsuccessfully. Jack slipped over to 
the rear of the building. Another gun was procured and one was 
placed on each side of the house, when the monkey, seeing the fix he was 
in, sprang on the chimney, and hid in one of the flues, holding on by 










424 


AFRICA'S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


his forepaws. A fire soon brought him out and he meekly surrendered, 
coming to his master in an abashed and crestfallen manner. 

With the exception of a few small species, such as the marmosets 
and the lemurs, the simians are not very pleasing animals in aspect 
or habits; while the larger apes and baboons are positively disgusting. 
The air of grotesque humanity that characterizes them is horribly sug¬ 
gestive of human idiocy. It is true that the naturalist learns to see 
wonder or beauty in all things of nature, and therefore looks with lively 
interest on the ape. But still, this creature is less pleasing in his 
sight than many others which may be not so highly developed; and in 
truth there are few who, if the choice lay between the two fates, would 
not prefer to suffer from the fangs and claws of the lion than from the 
teeth and hands of the ape. 

DU CHAILLU AND THE GORILLA. 

No African traveler before Roosevelt has made so great contribu¬ 
tions to our knowledge of the animal life and vegetation of equatorial 
Africa as Du Chaillu. He arrived in the Congo region in 1855 from the 
city of his adoption, New York, and traveled nearly 8,000 miles on foot, 
which gave him an opportunity of studying the country more thoroughly 
than most other explorers. 

The first time he saw a gorilla at close quarters he says that he felt 
like a murderer in pursuing this man-like animal with the intention of 
killing it. The gorilla, however, caught sight of his pursuers and 
eluded them. He was not the only one of the party who felt that this 
was something more than a mere brute. The negroes believe that cer¬ 
tain gorillas are endowed with the spirit of departed negroes. In 
these, the intelligence of the man is united to the cunning instinct of 
the brute, and, joined to its activity and immense strength, enables 
such animals to evade pursuit and defy the hunters forever. Such a 
one, they told Du Chaillu, was this gorilla which had escaped them. 

His second gorilla hunt was more successful. We let him tell this 
exciting adventure in his own words: 

“Presently I noticed, ahead of us, seemingly, a noise as of some 
one breaking down branches or twigs of trees. This was the gorilla. 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS, 


425 



MALE GORILLA. 






























AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS . 


126 

I knew at once, by the eager and satisfied looks of the men. They 
looked once more carefully to their guns, to see if by any chance the 
powder had fallen out of the pans; I also examined mine, to make 
sure that all was right; and then we marched on cautiously. 

“The singular noise of the breaking of tree-branches continued. 
We walked with the greatest care, making no noise at all. The coun¬ 
tenances of the men showed that they thought themselves engaged in 
a very serious undertaking; but we pushed on, until finally we saw 
through the thick woods the moving of the branches and small trees 
which the great beast was tearing down, probably to get from them the 
berries and fruits he lives on. 

“Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence which made 
a heaw breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were filled with the 
heavy barking roar of the gorilla. Then the underbrush swayed rapidly 
just ahead, and presently before us stood an immense male gorilla. 
He had gone through the jungle on his all-fours; but when he saw our 
party he erected himself and looked us boldly in the face. He stood 
about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I think never to forget. 
Nearly six feet high (he proved two inches shorter) with immense 
body, huge chest, and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring large 
deep-gray eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me 
like some nightmare vision: thus stood before us this king of the 
African forests. 

“He was not afraid of us. He stood there, and beat his breast with 
his huge fists until it resounded like an immense bass-drum, which is 
their mode of offering defiance; meantime giving vent to roar after roar. 
The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in 
these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, 
then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely resembles 
the rumble of distant thunder along the sky, for which I have some¬ 
times been tempted to take it when I did not see the animal. So deep 
is it that it seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than from 
the deep chest and vast paunch. 

“His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motionless on the 
defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 


427 



began to twitch rapidly up and down, while his powerful fangs were 
shown as he again sent forth a thunderous roar. And now truly he 
reminded me of nothing hut some hellish dream creature—a being of 
that hideous order, half man, half beast, which we find pictured by old 
artists in some representations of the infernal regions. He advanced 


FEMALE GORILLA AND YOUNG. 

a few steps—then stopped to utter the hideous roar again—advanced 
again, and finally stopped when at a distance of about six yards from 
us. And here, as he began another of his roars and beating his breast 
in rage, we fired, and killed him. 

“With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and yet 
was full of brutishness, it fell forward on its face. The body shook 

































































428 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs moved about in a struggling 
way, and then all was quiet—death bad done its work, and I bad leisure 
to examine the huge body. It proved to be five feet ten inches high, 
and the muscular development of the arms and breast showed what 
immense strength it had possessed.” 

Du Chaillu had already been taught by necessity to eat roast monkey; 
the chief objection to which, say those who know, is that it looks un¬ 
pleasantly like a child so prepared might look; but he felt repelled 
when the natives proceeded to cut up and eat the body of this monster, 
so like a man, and yet so horribly different. He was soon to find that 
among the Fans the flesh of the gorilla was comparatively harmless and 
pleasing food; for they were cannibals. Not only did they devour 
the flesh of enemies killed in battle, as is the custom of other anthro¬ 
pophagi, but they even purchased from their neighbors the bodies of 
those who died a natural death; and no disease was so revolting as to 
insure the body against being eaten. 

Another incident is well worth narrating in his own words. It 
refers to a gorilla hunt undertaken from the village of Obindji, where he 
found the people fairly at the point of starvation, and, therefore, in 
sore need of some fresh gorilla meat. 

“I gave powder to the whole party. Six were to go off in one direc¬ 
tion for busli-deer, and whatever luck might send them; and six others, 
of whom I was one, were to hunt for gorillas. We set off toward a 
dark valley, where Gambo, Igoumba’s son, said we should find our 
prey. The gorilla chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests for its home, 
and is found on the edges of clearings only when in search of plantains, 
or sugarcane, or pineapples. Often they choose for their peculiar 
haunt a piece of wood so dark that even at midday one can scarcely see 
ten yards. This makes it the more necessary to wait till the monstrous 
beast approaches near before shooting, in order that the first shot may 
be fatal. 

“Our little party separated, as is the custom, to stalk the wood in 
various directions. One brave fellow went off alone in a direction 
where he thought he could find a gorilla. The other three took another 
course. We had been about an hour separated when Gambo and I heard 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


429 


a gun fired but little way from us, and presently another. We were al¬ 
ready on our way to the spot where we hoped to see a gorilla slain, 
when the forest began to resound with the most terrific roars. Gambo 
seized my arms in great agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with 
a dreadful and sickening fear. We had not gone far when our worst 



THE CODISTA, 


fears were realized. The poor brave fellow who had gone off alone was 
lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and I thought at first 
quite dead. His bowels were protruding through the lacerated ab¬ 
domen. Beside him lay his gun. The stock was broken, and the bar¬ 
rel was bent and flattened. It bore plainly the marks of the gorilla’s 
teeth. 












430 AFRICA'S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 

“We picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I could 
with rags torn from my clothes. When I had given him a little brandy 
to drink he came to himself, and was able, but with great difficulty, to 



THE SPIDER MONKEY, 


speak. He said that he had met the gorilla suddenly and face to face, 
and that it had not attempted to escape. It was, he said, a huge male, 
and seemed very savage. It was in a very gloomy part of the wood, 
and the darkness, I suppose, made him miss. He said he took good 





























































AFRICA’S : MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


431 


aim, and fired only when the beast was about eight yards off. The 
ball merely wounded it in the side. It at once began beating its breasts, 
and with the greatest rage advanced upon him. To run away was 
impossible. He would have been caught in the jungle before he had 
gone a dozen steps. 

“He stood his ground, and as quickly as he could reloaded his 
gun. Just as he raised it to fire the gorilla dashed it out of his hands, 
the gun going off in the fall; and then in an instant, and with a terrible 
roar, the animal gave him a tremendous blow with its immense open 
paw, frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and with this single blow 
laying bare part of the intestines. As he sank, bleeding, to the ground, 
the monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would have 
his brains dashed out with it. But the gorilla seemed to look upon 
this also as an enemy, and in his rage flattened the barrel between his 
strong jaws. When we came upon the ground the gorilla had gone 
This is their mode when attacked—to strike one or two blows, and 
then leave the victims of their rage on the ground and go off into the 
woods.” 

Du Cliaillu was finally elected king of the Apingi tribe. Their reason 
for so doing was, that they expected him to exercise his magical powers 
by making them an unlimited supply of beads, by the aid of the won¬ 
derful spirit which he possessed in the shape of an old American clock. 
On one occasion, they gathered in great numbers to see him make a 
pile of beads as high as the top of a large tree; but the show did not 
come off. 

But we return to the monkeys: 

Although these animals are capable of assuming a partially erect 
position, yet their habitual attitude is on all-fours. Even the most 
accomplished ape is but a bad walker when he discards the use of his 
two upper limbs, and trusts for support and progression to the hinder 
legs only. There are many dogs which can walk, after the manner of 
two-legged animals, with a firmer step and a more assured demeanor 
than the apes, although they do not so closely resemble the human 
figure. 

On account of the structure of the limbs, the term “hand” is given 


432 


AFRICA'S MOST *INTERESTING ANIMALS 



THE BED-BELLIED MONKEY. 


to their extremities; but scarcely with perfect fitness. It must he borne 
in mind that the thumb is not always found on the fore extremities of 
these animals. In several kinds of monkeys the fore paws are destitute 
of effective thumbs, and the hand-like grasp is limited to the hinder 
feet. The so-called hands of the monkey tribe will not bear compari- 





























AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


433 


son with those of man. Although the thumb, possesses great freedom 
of motion, and in many species can be opposed to the fingers in a man¬ 
ner resembling the hand of man, yet there is no intellectual power in 
the monkey hand; none of that characteristic contour which speaks 
of the glorious human soul so strongly that an artist can sketch a single 
hand, and in that one member exhibit the individuality of its owner. 

That monkeys, among other characteristics which show a closer 
connecting link with the human species than is at all agreeable, should 
possess that love of seeing how near they can get to danger without be¬ 
ing hurt, which finds a place in almost every man’s breast, is especially 
odd, but none the less true. 

STUDYING THE MONKEY LANGUAGE. 

Our chapter on the monkeys would not be complete should we omit 
Prof. Richard L. Garner’s interesting attempts to study their lan¬ 
guage. Language! our readers exclaim, and well they may, for did 
we ever hear of an animal endowed with this exclusively human prop¬ 
erty? We let facts answer. The professor first studied the mon¬ 
key language in zoological gardens with the assistance of the phono¬ 
graph and under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution in Wash¬ 
ington. He found that the male monkey would recognize the voice of 
the female, when repeated by the phonograph, put his hand down the 
horn to find her, and then retire, puzzled, to the far end of the cage 
apparently talking to himself. And when the graplioplione repeated 
his “words” before the female she would recognize his voice. 

Encouraged by these experiences the, professor decided to go to 
Africa and study the monkeys in their native jungles. He sailed from 
New York in 1892 for the French Congo territory around the Gaboon 
river, where Hu Chaillu had made his famous explorations half a cen¬ 
tury ago, and started for the jungle the following year, accompanied 
by a native boy and a tame chimpanzee, whom he named “Moses.” 
He had most to do with this species of the simian tribe, which seemed 
to him to rank next to man in intelligence, the gorilla coming next, 
with the orang-outang third or fourth. 

» 

The chimpanzee is a native of Western Africa, and is common on the 


434 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 



banks of the Gambia and in Congo. It is also found on the peninsula 
of Malacca and several islands of the Indian ocean. Large bands of 
these formidable apes congregate together and unite in repelling an 
invader, which they do with such fury and courage that even the dreaded 
elephant and lion are driven from their haunts by their united efforts. 
They live principally on the ground, and, as the name imports, spend 
much of their time in caves and under rocks. Their height is from 




THE MANGOBEY. 


four to five feet, but they are said not to reach this growth until nine 
or ten years of age. 

That the chimpanzee was known in Europe as far back' as 1598 is 
proved by an account brought back from the Congo by a Portuguese 
sailor, named Eduardo Lopez. In 1613 there appeared the history of 
the wanderings of an English sailor, named Andrew Battel, in the 
lower part of Guinea, in 1590, who appears to have heard of or seen, 
not only the chimpanzee, which he designates the enjocko, but like- 








































AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


435 


wise the gorilla, which he calls the pongo. Hence the name Jocko so 
generally given to individuals of the monkey tribe. 

In captivity, chimpanzees, when in health, are gentle, intelligent 
and affectionate, readily learning to feed themselves with a spoon, or 
to drink out of a glass or cup. Unfortunately, however, their span of 
life in this country is but brief. The longest period that a chimpanzee 
has hitherto lived in a zoological garden at London is eight years; 
“Sally,” who died in 1891, having been kept there for that time. The 
description by Dr. J. G. Romanes of the mental power of “Sally” is 
full of interest. This account was written after the creature had been 
nearly six years in the London Zoological Gardens. The intelligence 
of “Sally” is compared by Dr. Romanes to that of a child a few months 
before emerging from the period of infancy, and is thus far higher than 
that of any other mammal (exclusive of man). In spite, however, of 
this relatively high degree of intelligence, the creature’s power of mak¬ 
ing vocal replies to her keepers, or those with whom she was brought 
into contact, were of the most limited kind. Such replies were, indeed, 
restricted to three peculiar grunting noises. One of these indicated 
assent or affirmation; another, of very similar intonation, denoted re¬ 
fusal or distrust; while the third, and totally different intonation, 
was used to express thanks or recognition of favors. In disposition 
“Sally” was, like many of her sex, apt to be capricious and uncertain; 
although, on the whole, she was good-humored and fond of her keepers, 
with whom she was never tired of a kind of bantering play. 

It has always been a matter of surprise that no large man-like ape 
now inhabits the dense tropical forest? of India or Burma, which 
would appear to be just as suitable for these creatures as are those of 
Borneo or Equatorial Africa. The discovery in India of a jaw of a 
large ape apparently belonging to the same genus as the chimpanzee 
shows us, however, that large man-like apes must have once roamed 
over the plains of India. Why chimpanzees, together with hippopotami 
and giraffes, which are likwise found fossil in India but are now con¬ 
fined to Africa, should have totally disappeared from the former coun¬ 
try, is, however, one of those puzzling problems connected with the 


436 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 



THE BLACK AND VARIEGATED SPIDER MONKEYS. 

distribution of animals which we have but little hope of answering 
satisfactorily. 

^ hile studying the language of lower species of monkeys, Prof. 
Gainer had not found any whose vocabulary exceeded nine words, all 
of them expressing some physical want, as thirst or hunger; lie was soon 
able to record twenty-five or thirty distinct chimpanzee “words,” ten 































































































AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


437 


of which he succeeded in learning. His dictionary comprises altogether 
over a hundred “words” in various monkey dialects, and he himself 
has learned about thirty of them. 

After some vain attempts he finally succeeded in teaching “Moses” 
to repeat some simple monosyllables. He found it impossible to learn 
to say mama; he could move his mouth properly but was unable to 
produce the sound. The French “feu” (fire) he pronounced “ou,”‘ 
and the German “wie” (how) sounded like a German “u.” While 
the monkey languages have no grammar or sentences the professor 
found that in all essential points they resemble human speech. “Their 
sounds are voluntary, deliberate and articulate,” he states, “and are 
addressed to others with the purpose of being understood. If they are 
not replied to they are repeated. The speaker looks at the one ad¬ 
dressed. Monkeys do not naturally talk when they are alone.” Not 
only do they understand the few “words” of their speech when spoken 
to by other monkeys, but they also understand them when repeated by 
the human voice or by the phonograph. “These sounds are interpreted 
the same way at all times,” he says. “They are made just as we 
make our sounds, by the use of vocal organs such as teeth, tongue, 
palate, and lips. Their speech is even shaded into dialects and the 
higher the type of the ape the higher the form of speech. Apparently, 
the present state of the monkeys in this respect is the result of de¬ 
velopment from lower forms, just as our speech is supposed to be. So 
far as I am able to discern,” he continues, “there is no intrinsic dif¬ 
ference between the speech of monkeys and the speech of men.” 

Other scholars who have investigated this interesting matter are 
Prof. E. L. Thorndine of Columbia, whose experiments with South 
American monkeys demonstrate that these animals have a very limited, 
if any, power of reasoning and that their ability to learn by imitation 
is very small, Prof. A. J. Ivinnaman of Clark University, whose as¬ 
tonishing experiments with “Jack” and “Jill,” two tamed Simians, 
in teaching them to open locks and doors, and solving the puzzle of the 
famous Hampton Court maze we must pass by, and Prof. John B. 
Watson of Chicago University. 

His “Jimmy” and “Billy,” whose close attachment for one an- 


438 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 


other reminds one of human friendships, show that, while the monkey 
is immeasurably below man in intellect, he approaches a step nearer 
to him within the realm of feelings, for he possesses at least the germ 
of every human emotion. He loves, he hates, he fears, he gets angry, 
disappointed or curious, surprised and so forth. He is very affection- 



THE BABOON. 


ate. Prof. Garner's pet took tender care of the sick “Moses’* and 
died from grief for the loss of his better half “Elisheba.” 

THE MOST HIDEOUS AND UGLY MONKEY. 

With the true baboons we come to the most hideous and repulsive- 
looking members of the monkey tribe, their repulsive appearance being 
only equalled by the fierce and untamable disposition of several of the 





































AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


439 


group. All the baboons are confined to Africa and the countries lying 
on the north of the Red Sea, so that they are totally absent from the Ori¬ 
ental region. They are found over the whole of Africa, but, as is so gen¬ 
erally the case, are represented by a greater variety on the west coast 
than elsewhere, and it is also in that region that the most hideous rep¬ 
resentatives of the group are to be found. 

While agreeing with the gelada baboon in the great length of their 
snouts, the true baboons are readily distinguished by the nostrils be¬ 
ing placed at the very extremity of their snouts; indeed, in the Arabian 
baboon they actually project slightly beyond the upper lip, as is the 
case in most dogs. This canine form of countenance led the ancient 
Greeks and Romans to apply the name dog-lieadecl to these animals. 
This great prolongation of the snout shows that the baboons are the low¬ 
est of the Old World monkeys, and they bear the most marked signs 
of relationship with the inferior orders of mammals. 

In addition to their long snouts, baboons are likewise distinguished 
by the large proportionate size of their skulls, this being most markedly 
the case with some of the West African forms. Moreover, the bones 
forming the upper jaws are greatly inflated, so as to give a swollen 
look to this part of the face in some of the species. They may also carry 
prominent oblique ridges, which form the support for the peculiar 
fleshy tumor-like structures occurring in certain West African examples. 

In all the baboons the callous places on the buttocks are unusually 
large, and may be very brightly colored. The tail is never very long, 
and often very short. The arms and legs, or, as they may be better- 
termed, fore- and hind-legs, are nearly equal in length, and are thus 
far better adapted for progress on the ground than for climbing. In¬ 
deed none of the baboons appear to be adepts at climbing, and many 
of them pass almost their whole time on the ground. Several species 
of this group show an especial predilection for rocky ground, and are 
accustomed to go in large troops—this association being probably neces¬ 
sary for defence against the attacks of leopards and other flesh eating 
animals. 

Their defence does not, however, rest solely on the strength of 
numbers; for the male baboons, which are considerably superior in 


440 


AFRICA'S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


size and strength to their consorts, are armed with tasks of the most 
formidable dimensions. Indeed, a bite from one of these animals must 
be almost, if not quite, as severe and dangerous as a leopard’s; and 
there are instances on record where leopards have been successfully 
attacked and mastered by a few old male baboons. 



THE MANDRILL. 


The mandrill, which is the most conspicuous of the baboon tribe, is 
a native of Guinea and Western Africa, and is chiefly remarkable for 
the vivid colors with which it is adorned. Its cheeks are of a brilliant 
blue, its muzzle of a bright scarlet, and a stripe of crimson runs along 
the center of its nose. These colors are agreeably contrasted by the 
purple hues of the hinder quarters. It lives principally in forests 







































AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


441 


filled with brushwood, from which it makes incursions into the nearest 
villages, plundering them with impunity. On this account it is much 
dreaded by the natives, who feel themselves incapable of resisting its 
attacks. It is excessively ferocious, and easily excited to anger; and 
when enraged, so boundless is its rage, that I have seen several of 
these animals expire from the violence of their fury. 

The greenish-brown color of the hair of this and other monkeys is 
caused by alternate bands of yellow and black, which exist on each 
hair. The brilliant colors referred to above belong to the skin, and 
fade away entirely after death. 

The chacma, or bear baboon is remarkable chiefly for its ability in 
discovering water. When the water begins to run short, and the known 
fountains have failed, the chacma is deprived of water for a whole day, 
until it is furious with thirst. A long rope is then tied to the baboon’s 
collar, and it is suffered to run about where it chooses. 

First it runs forward a little, then stops; gets on its hind feet, and 
sniffs up the air especially taking notice of the wind and its direc¬ 
tion. It will then, perhaps, change its course; and after running for 
some distance, take another observation. Presently it will spy out a 
blade of grass, or smaller object, pluck it up, turn it on all sides, smell 
it, and then go forward again. Thus the animal proceeds until it leads 
the party to water—guided by some mysterious instinct. 

This species is an inhabitant of the countries bordering on the 
Red Sea littoral and the Upper Nile valley, but to reach its habitat we 
have to travel to the southern extremity of the African continent. 

Like all the remaining representatives of the long-tailed baboons, 
the chacma differs from the Arabian baboon by the absence of the 
mane on the neck and shoulders of the males. We have, indeed, in this 
respect a gradual descending series from the gelada baboon, in which 
both sexes are maned, through the Arabian baboon, in which only the 
males are so ornamented, to the chacma, in which both males and fe¬ 
males are maneless. In size the^chacma is one of the largest of the 
group, and it has been compared in this respect, as well as in its bodily 
strength, with an English mastiff. 

The doguera baboon is a closely allied species or variety, found in 


442 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS 



THE PIG-TAILED BABOON. 


Abyssinia. It is of a more olive color than the sacred baboon. Dr. 
Anderson describes a male preserved in the museum at Calcutta as 
being of a uniform yellowish-olive color on the whiskers and all over 
the body, above and below, except on the hands and feet, which are 
nearly black. The coarse hair on the fore-part of the body is about 







AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


443 


six inches in length and is ashy-gray in color for the first two inches, 
while the remainder is banded with nine rings of orange and black. 

It was long thought that the yellow baboon, which takes its name 
from the pale brownish-yellow hue of the fur, came from Nubia and the 
Sudan; it is now known to occur on the west coast; but there is a ba¬ 
boon found in the neighborhood of Kilima-Njaro, on the east coast, 
which is identified with this species. These baboons generally fre¬ 
quent the outlying parts of the plantations of the natives, subsisting 
largely on the maize and other products stolen therefrom. In certain 
localities they are extremely numerous, going about in troops com¬ 
posed of about fourteen individuals of both sexes and of all ages. They 
have but little fear of man, and instead of running away will turn 
round and face an intruder, with threatening gestures, at a distance of 
only a few yards. The natives are in the habit of driving them away 
from the crops, when the baboons retreat in a leisurely manner with 
their cheek-pouches crammed full, and often dragging off some of the 
plunder in their hands. 

There are few species of mammals that have given rise to more 
confusion in natural history literature than the Guinea baboon, of which 
examples have been described under at least two distinct names, and 
regarded as different species, though it is a well-ascertained fact that 
the common baboon belongs to one and the same species as the Guinea 
baboon. 

The Guinea baboon is characterized by the uniformly reddish-brown 
color of its fur, which is washed with a yellowish tinge, more especially 
upon the head, shoulders, back, and limbs; the cheeks and throat be¬ 
ing paler, and the whiskers fawn-colored. As in the chacma, the upper 
eyelids are white. The nose projects rather beyond the upper lip, but 
is somewhat less elongated than in the chacma, and has small swell¬ 
ings corresponding with those so enormously developed in the next 
species. 

As its name indicates, it is an inhabitant of Guinea; and although, 
judging from the number of specimens that are imported, into Europe, 
it must be common, there is no record of its habits and mode of life 
in a state of nature. Of those in a state of confinement there are, how- 


444 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


ever, numerous accounts, the species being frequently carried about by 
itinerant showmen. 


THE ORANG-OUTANG. 

While the orang-outang is not a native of Africa but of Borneo 
and Sumatra still it has so great a general resemblance to the chim- 



'A FAMILY OF ORANG-OUTANGS 

panzee and other African apes and is so prominent a member of the ape 
family that we can not but mention it here. It is the largest of all the 
apes, as it is said that orangs have been obtained considerably above 
five feet in height. The strength of this animal is tremendous. A 















AFRICA'S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


445 


female snapped a strong spear asunder after having many severe 
wounds. Its arms are of extraordinary length, the hands reaching the 
ground when it stands erect. This length of arm is admirably adapted 
for climbing trees, in which it principally resides. 

When young the orang-outang is very docile, and has been taught 
to make its own bed, and to handle a cup and saucer, or a spoon, with 
tolerable propriety. For the former occupation it proved itself par- 
ticuliarly apt, as it not only laid its own bed-clothes smooth and com¬ 
fortable, but exhibited much ingenuity in stealing blankets from other 
beds, which it added to its own. A young orang-outang evinced ex¬ 
treme horror at the sight of a small tortoise, and when the reptile was 
introduced into its den, stood aghast in a most ludicrously terrified at¬ 
titude, with its eyes intently fixed on the frightful object. 

The orangs, like gorillas, go in small family parties, consisting of 
the parents accompanied frequently by from two to four young ones. 
Although they will devour leaves, buds, and young shoots,—more espec- 
cially those of the bamboo,—the chief food of the orang consists of fruits 
of various kinds, the prime favorite being the luscious but ill-smelling 
durian or jack-fruit. Of this fruit they waste a vast quantity, throw¬ 
ing the rejected rinds on the ground below. 

The orang is covered with dark brown hair. The skin has a bluish 
tint. The face is nearly bare, the eyes fringed with lashes, the mouth 
projecting, the lips thin and the ears small. It is unable to walk erect, 
but moves by putting the hands to the ground and drawing its body 
forward between them like a man walking on crutches. These apes 
are solitary in their habits and generally occupy marshy districts far 
away from the resorts of man. They are tree-climbers and spend the 
day in the upper branches of the forest descending towards night in the 
thick foliage of the palms. 

A traveler who took great interest in orang-outang hunting tells 
his impressions on killing his first large one in the following words: 

“Great was our triumph as we gazed on the huge animal dead at 
our feet, and proud we were of having shot the first orang we had seen 
and shot him in his native woods * * * hitherto untrodden by Eu¬ 
ropean feet. We were struck with the length of his arms, the enormous 


446 AFRICA'S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 

neck, the expanse of face, which altogether gave the expression of 
great height, whereas it was only great power. The hair was long, 
reddish, and thin; the face remarkably broad and fleshy, and on each 
side, in the place of a man’s whiskers, were the callouses, or rather 
fleshy protuberances, which I was so desirous to see, and which were 



THE MOOR MACAGUE. 


nearly two inches in thickness. The ears were small and well shaped, 
the nose quite flat, the mouth prominent, the lips thick, the eyes small 
and roundish, the teeth large and discolored, the face and hands black, 
the last being very powerful. The animal was four feet one inch in 
height, and its fore-limb was three feet five inches and three-quarters 
in length; the width of the face, moreover, being as much as one foot 














AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


447 


one inch. While the fore-limb was so long, the lower limb, from the 
hip to the heel, only measured one foot nine inches; and hence there is 

i 

great disproportion between the limbs, the leg and foot appearing 
dwarfed in comparison.” 

Another traveler tells some interesting facts about a young orang 
which he had captured in its native haunts: 

44 It was only about a foot long,” he writes, “and had evidently been 
hanging to its mother when she first fell. Seemingly, it did not appear 
to have been wounded, and after we had cleaned the mud out of its 
mouth it began to cry ©ut, and seemed quite strong and active. While 
carrying it home it got its hands in my beard, and grasped so tightly 
that I had great difficulty in getting free, for the fingers are habitually, 
bent inwards at the last joint, so as to form complete hooks. At this 
time it had not a single tooth, but a few days afterward it cut its two 
lower front teeth. Unfortunately, I had no milk to give it * * * 
and I in vain inquired for any female animal that could suckle my little 
infant. I was therefore obliged to give it rice water. * * * When I 
put my finger in its mouth it sucked with great vigor. * * * When 
handled or nursed, it was very gentle and contented, but when put 
down by itself would invariably cry; and for the first few nights was 
very restless and noisy. I fitted up a little box for a cradle, with a 
rope mat for it to lie upon, which was changed and washed every day; 
and I soon found it necessary to wash the little devil as well.” He then 
goes on telling how he took care of it like a baby, bathed and treated 
it, fondled it and played with it, and fed it with biscuits, eggs and sweet 
potatoes, and was very much amused to observe the curious changes 
of countenance by which it would express its approval or dislike of 
wliat was given to it. “The poor little thing would lick its lips, draw 
in its cheeks, and turn up its eyes with an expression of the most su¬ 
preme satisfaction when it had a mouthful particularly to its taste. On 
the other hand, when its food was not sufficiently sweet or palatable, 
it would turn the mouthful about with its tongue for a moment, as if 
trying to extract what flavor there was, and then push it all out between 
its lips. If the same food was continued, it would set up a scream and 
kick about violently, exactly like a baby in a passion. * . * * When 


448 


AFRICA’S MOST INTERESTING ANIMALS. 


I had had it about a month, it began to exhibit some signs of learning 
to run alone. "When laid upon the floor it would push itself along by 
its legs or roll itself over, and thus make an unwieldy progression. 
When lying in the box it would lift itself up to the edge into almost an 
erect position, and once or twice succeeded in tumbling out. When 
left dirty or hungry, or otherwise neglected, it would scream violently 



HEAD OF THE BLACK HOWLER. 


till attended to, varied by a kind of coughing or pumping noise, very 
similar to that which is made by the adult animal. After a few weeks 
it was taken ill. The symptoms were exactly those of intermittent 
fever, accompanied by watery swellings on the feet and hands. It 
lost all appetite for its food, and after lingering for a week, a most pit¬ 
iable object, died, after being m my possession nearly three months.” 

The monkeys evidently show much intelligence, and according to 
the belief of many naturalists would, if tamed and domesticated like 
the dog, develop into the most human of all animals. 





























































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